62 | Major upgrades done on JJJ Farms JJJ Farms is near Hari Hari on the West Coast. Kelly Deeks The Davie family with their JJJ Farms near Hari Hari on the West Coast is fixing all of the little issues with the goal of smooth operations and long-term compliance in the ever-changing regulatory landscape of the dairy industry. When a shed inspection by AsureQuality revealed some issues around concrete condition, Gavin Davie saw an opportunity to remedy the situation with a long-term solution. “We had some pitted concrete on the pit floor so when we first bought the place, we had put down a one-piece mat. It wasn’t a great solution as we couldn’t lift this massive mat in and out so it stayed there quite a while.” The Davies considering laying new concrete over the top, but with the floor already at the perfect level and a staff member of significant height, that wasn’t going to work. The best solution ended up being an epoxy floor coating from Regis Coatings. The application of the coating required the concrete to be very clean and very dry but with several heaters running in the shed, the Davies got the coating applied and it is now working well, with removable mats over the top. JJJ Farms did require some new concrete work, including a tanker pad by the vat, and a couple of holes in the side yard which needed repair. While this was being remedied, the Davies also got to work on the old concrete foot bath at the entrance to the shed, which had a couple of humps in it. These were leveled off to make a nice smooth surface for the cows and an easier job for the Davies to draft their cows out through calving. “Then I thought while we’re doing all this concrete work, we should put in a vet race,” Gavin says. “Since we stopped using trolleys we had just been sending the cows down the side of the shed and it worked quite well, except with the cows facing the pit we needed three to four people just to help move them down the side. And even then we could only do six to 10 cows at a time. Also we are giving all cows three years and older a calcium bolus and doing that in the shed was a bit of a mongrel with all the pipework in the way. So we put in a new vet race and I wish I had done it ages ago. RURAL SERVICES » JJJ Farms Ltd SERVICING We deliver nationwide however we specialise in: • Greymouth • Westport • Hokitika • Christchurch • South Westland DISTRIBUTORS FOR • BP Oil NZ Ltd – Bulk Fuel Delivery • Castrol Lubricants Phone Greymouth: 03 769 9081 | Phone Hokitika: 03 756 8012 Phone Mainfreight West Coast: 03 769 9081 | Email: freight@aratuna.co.nz Mainfreight West Coast, Aramex Couriers, Refrigerated & General Freight, Bulk & Livestock Specialists FREIGHTERS LTD ARATUNA FREIGHTERS LTD Transporting goods throughout the South Island including lime, fertiliser & stock feed, timber & logs, rock, woodchip and all general goods. Proudly supporting JJJ Farms Ltd ARNOLD TRANSPORT LTD Ryan Arnold 0275 484 586 | Tommy Arnold 0275484587 | atacon@xtra.co.nz WE DESIGN AND BUILD NEW DAIRY SHEDS • Plant & yard upgrades • Backing gates • Water pumps & tanks • Teat spray systems • Farm ef uent systems • Registered machine testing • Galv pipe & steel • Rubberware & hose OR COME IN AND SEE US AT 15 HAU HAU ROAD, HOKITIKA E westlanddairysheds@xtra.co.nz 332 Arthurstown Road, Hokitika 03 755 6358 or 027 244 7510 TONYS REPAIRS Motorbike Sales & Repairs PROUDLY SUPPORTING JJJ FARMS
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