| 29 Delivering significant gains in efficiency Dromore Dairies achieved Gold Plus certification under Synlait’s Lead With Pride programme following its switch to supplying Synlait. Karen Phelps RURAL PEOPLE » Tharanga Senavirathna - Dromore Dairies A suite of interconnected technology upgrades to the dairy shed at Dromore Dairies is delivering significant gains in efficiency, animal health and labour savings for contract milkers Tharanga and Jilani Senavirathna. The Ashburton-area operation, which peak milks 1,585 cows across 389 hectares effective, has been running Allflex automatic cup removers, milk meters and an automatic drafting gate for three seasons now, all supplied and installed by Rakaia Dairy Services. But it is the addition of SenseHub cow collars, introduced at the same time and working in conjunction with the infrastructure upgrade, that has helped make a real difference on a farm of this scale. “Because all the technology is within the Allflex family of products, it operates as a fully integrated system,” says Tharanga. “With a large herd, the collars have cut down a lot of work. They are much more accurate, for example, for drafting cows that are on heat. We don’t need to use tail paint any more so that’s a saving in both cost and labour.” The SenseHub system works by fitting each cow with a lightweight collar tag that uses an accelerometer to detect three-dimensional movement of the head, neck and muscles. Those movement patterns are read by antennas mounted on the dairy shed roof and transmitted to server software, which continuously compares each cow’s behaviour against her own ten-day baseline. Significant deviations trigger alerts for heat, illness or distress. One of the most practical gains has been the ability to monitor herd health proactively rather than reactively. “We can pick up lame cows and mastitis early,” explains Tharanga, “and we can monitor herd health better and take action early.” As the collars also capture rumination data this gives the team a reliable window into feeding management. On a farm already managing a complex supplement regime that includes palm kernel extract, distillers dried grain, straw, molasses, canola blend, vegetable waste and silage, having real-time data on how well cows are processing their feed is a good advantage, says Tharanga. For a six-person team working a five-on, two-off roster across a high-stocking-rate, system-five operation, any reduction in manual tasks has real value. The shed upgrades complement the farm’s broader push for technical precision, which this season includes a pasture utilisation target of 77 per cent and weekly plate metre measurements during spring. The farm team has also just started using Pasture.io Dromore Dairies achieved Gold Plus certification under Synlait’s Lead With Pride programme following its switch to supplying Synlait in recent years in recognition of best practice across environment, animal health and welfare, milk quality and social responsibility. “We can monitor herd health better and take action early.” For all your bulk blowing, fertiliser spreading and livestock cartage requirements. At Bleeker Cartage we solely focus on your rural transport needs. We are all to do with farming, stockfeed, fertiliser, livestock cartage and spreading. As well as a blower truck for filling silos. Phone George for Bulk: 027 306 1809 Phone Trevor for Livestock: 027 318 3165 EMAIL: bleekercartage@xtra.co.nz Visit us on Facebook @ Bleeker Cartage ROBERT WILSON - 027 249 1767 | 03 303 7999 Main South Rd, Hinds 7747 | service@allfarmengineering.co.nz | www.allfarmengineering.co.nz AGENTS FOR: PROUDLY SUPPORTING THARANGA SENAVIRATHNA - DROMORE DAIRIES Ph 03 308 8049 Nick Gilbert PROUD TO SUPPORT ELECTRICAL YOUR TRUSTED EXPERTS FOR ALL YOUR ELECTRICAL NEEDS AGRICULTURAL - INDUSTRIAL RESIDENTIAL - COMMERCIAL PROUD TO SUPPORT Dromore Dairi s The farm has set a production target of 795,000 kilograms of milksolids this season, an increase of around seven per cent on 2024-2025. The technology investment in the dairy shed, says Tharanga, is central to achieving those ambitions. With accurate, automated data flowing from every cow, every milking, the farm is better placed than ever to find the small margins that add up to a strong season.
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