| 7 RURAL PEOPLE » Eight Mile Farms The CalfExpert units allow calves to feed up to three times a day. onto a 1.1 hectare paddock where they can move freely in and out to feed. The system is fully automatic including washing itself and weighing every calf at each visit, allowing daily monitoring of weight gain, sucking speed and whether animals are drinking their full allocation. Pre 2025 the majority of their spring-born bull calves were finished in a 30 month bull beef system.Now the majority of these will be finished in a 20 month bull beef system. “Faster growth rates and shorter finishing times are enabling a significant reduction in emissions from dairy and beef animals. It’s also meant we have gone from getting no more than 50 per cent of those calves into that system to getting 95 per cent into it,” says Matt. The new shed housing the system has also been fitted with solar panels and battery storage, which has been co funded through an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) grant. “Solar demonstration farms, such as ours, will be utilised by ECCA to evaluate the economic viability, resilience and advantages of integrating batteries alongside solar energy systems. Our solar data will be employed to develop return on investment (ROI) calculators and establish best practices for other farmers contemplating solar adoption,” says Matt. In addition the Buckleys have separately installed 216 solar panels on the cow shed, without battery, which powers the shed through most of the day and feeds surplus energy back into the grid. An open day is planned for later in the year to showcase the solar technology. Matt and Olivia have also been collaborating with Dairy NZ and Beef LNZ to share their journey. They have hosted two field days demonstrating the application of the technology on farms and say they have received significant engagement from the farming community. Toitū-Certified Feed for Smarter, Sutainable Farming Customised nutrition solution for New Zealand farmers to help feed the world feeds.graincorp.co.nz
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