| 13 Animals come out in amazing condition To complement the composting barn Frano purchased a Strautmann Hopkins muck spreader. Richard Loader DAIRY PEOPLE » Frano Volckman A couple of years ago West Coast dairy farmer Frano Volclman made the decision to build a 5500sqm composting herd home for his cows to enjoy during the harsh winter months. “We wanted to minimise feed wastage, get better feed utilisation, and ultimately increase milk production,” says Frano. “We’re now in our second season, with great results. The cows go into the barn for most of the winter, they calve in the barn, and they come out in amazing condition. It just takes a lot of stress off the animal and allows them to be fully fed and have a nice warm place to rest. We’ve massively reduced damage to the paddocks and that all leads to growing more grass. Pugging doesn’t happen anymore and the farm recovers so much quicker. So it was really about looking after the stock, the land and benefiting from the extra production that it creates.” To complement the composting barn Frano purchased a Strautman Hopkins muck spreader this August enabling the organic matter inside the barn to be collected and spread over the paddocks. “The composting barn is full of woodchip which the cows are manuring on and it absorbs a lot of valuable fertility,’ says Frano. “We take the top four inches off the woodchip, load it into the machine and spread it out onto the paddock. That’s helping us to reduce our synthetic fertiliser cost, while at the same time getting full use of the cows’ manure which is resulting in growing more grass. So it’s a win-win really. While we have only had the machine for a month, you can definitely see where we have spread the woodchip with a response to the grass. The actual breaking down of the woodchip and building up of organic matter in the topsoil will be an on-going process over time.” Frano and his wife Kylie have been in equity partnership with Frano’s parents, Geoff and Maryann for the last few years, progressively working towards full ownership of the farm. Located right up the top of the West Coast in Karamea, the Volckman’s farming business encompasses two dairy units that are separated by the Little Wanganui River - famous for its white bait and fishing for brown trout. Frano’s sister and her partner sharemilk 220 24 HOUR SALES & SERVICE • Servicing all types of milking systems • Mobile Shop P: 03 547 3276 NEW MF 7S FINANCE FROM 0%! TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY FINANCE FROM 0%! NEW MF 7S | 145 - 210 HP FULL OF TORQUE & POWERFULLY CAPABLE AGCO PowerTM 6.6 litre, 6-cylinder engine, delivering efficiency, fuel economy and meeting Tier 2 emissions. DYNA-6 & DYNA-VT TRANSMISSIONS Easy to use, efficient and comfortable. 2.88M WHEELBASE FOR THE PERFECT POWER Optimum stability with high levels of ground traction. SMART & SUSTAINABLE FARMING TECHNOLOGIES Significant fuel savings, no overlap and less fatigue. Call Colin, Dealer Principal for all your sales, parts and service requirements today!! www.westlandfarmservices.co.nz Phone: 021 755 818 | 9 Gol inks Road, Hokitika @westlandfarmservices cows, on a smaller 100-hectare block, while Frano and Kylie operate a larger 240-hectare unit, milking 650 cows, with an adjoining run-off. In total, the farm encompasses 500 hectares, of which the smaller block has been in the Volckman family for three generations. The cows are all mainly Kiwi cross bred. Both herds are spring calving, and milked twice a day, changing to once-a-day in late autumn to finish off the season. The run-off is used mainly for young stock, a little bit of beef and making supplement silage. “Dairy is a pretty rewarding industry if you’re prepared to knuckle down and work pretty hard. The world needs food and we’re certainly doing our fair bit to supply that. You tend to lose sight of that sometimes. I think that Coast farmers supply the best milk really and that’s something you have to remind yourself you’re doing.”
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