16 | New farm a step up for dairy farmers The 250ha property has a 54-bale rotary dairy shed and a 600-cow Redpath wintering barn. Rosa Watson Moving to a farm with a state-of-the-art wintering shed, monitoring collars and automated drafting gates was a “big leap” for Southland couple Hayden and Alienor Diack. The couple are 23 per cent lower order sharemilking 800 Friesian-cross cows at Matai Farms, a five-minute drive from Edendale. The 250ha property has a 54-bale rotary dairy shed and a 600-cow Redpath wintering barn, built eight years ago, that has bark chip bedding and a feed pad. The barn also comes in handy for calving, Hayden told Rural South magazine. “It’s great to be able to put cows there and keep them warm, keep them fed and take the pressure off the grass. “It’s been awesome to be honest. It’s been a really wet September, so it’s been great to put the barn to use.” Whey waste that is collected is able to be used on the property instead of capital fertiliser. Whey contains high levels of nitrogen plus other nutrients to promote grass growth. Being able to have the cows in once place over wintering and calving made the operation more efficient, Hayden said. “It saved a lot of time and made things much easier.” The farm is well set-up and includes Protrack Cattle Management automated drafting gates that identifies cows coming through, and TrueTest collars that provide data on their general health. “It’s been quite exciting for us just to be able to analyse the cows a bit more intensively to get to know what’s going on.” Last year the herd produced 500 milk solids (ms) per cow, and this year that was looking to increase to 540ms. The team includes two full-time staff and three casual workers, two that are full-time milking. They moved with the Diacks to their new property from the previous farm. “They’re a really good team we’ve had for a couple of years now. “(They) were happy to come with us.” Hayden grew up in Southland on a sheep farm not far from where he is now. He was looking at a few ways to get into farming and found there were few opportunities in sheep and beef farming. After five years in the industry, he is building good equity in the herd that will help towards his farm ownership goals. “There’s so many great opportunities to grow DAIRY PEOPLE » Hayden and Alienor Diack Of ce Herbert’s Transport 03 206 9966 – not only in equity growth but through personal growth as well.” This year they placed third at the Otago / Southland Dairy Industry Awards and received two merit awards for hygiene and people and culture. “We were rapt with that,” Hayden said. “It’s nice to be able to get the placing, but also get recognition for something you’re excelling at.” The experience was something he felt had been hugely beneficial to his professional development. “You have to push yourself and test yourself. Those things make it a great industry to be a part of.” The lifestyle was something he loved about dairy farming. He enjoyed the routine and systems, and the team that he worked with. “It’s a great place with great employees as well and great farm owners.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=