10 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Andre & Annelies de Leeuw Robots prove their worth on farm The feed silo from the new shed. Taken from the side of the exit race. Lydia, Janine, Claudia, Andre with Nathalie, Annelies with Brenda, Simona, Janeil, Aline and Marco. Richard Loader On the edge of the wonderful rural service town of Carterton, in the very heart of Wairarapa, four Lely robots work quietly, but ever so tirelessly, milking up to 235 cows a year, immune to weather or sickness. The robots have been doing their job on Andre and Annelies de Leeuw’s dairy unit since being installed six months ago, and now the cows have got to know how it all works, enjoying their regular visits to the booth, as and when the time is right. The new system takes pride of place alongside the de Leeuw’s existing 65 five-year-old 22-aside herringbone shed, with a pit that had been way too shallow for the 20 years Andre stood in it. The need for significant capital investment to upgrade the old shed was a key driver for looking at a new system, but it wasn’t the only reason. The pursuit of efficiency, animal health, more information and greater productivity were also important considerations, says Andre. “When I came to New Zealand twenty years ago, people were milking 150 cows per man-unit, and doing 60,000 solids per man-unit. People are still doing that. We produce the same amount of milk with 50% of the staff labour because we’re a family operation, so we’ve probably gained productivity as far as that is concerned. “We’re also using 30% less feed than we needed 20 years ago because we grow better grasses, and use better genetics to produce more efficient cows. You can say I keep the costs down, but we wanted to do more production with less labour input and less feed input. We felt we needed more information about the milk quality, to look after our animals better and to increase efficiency and productivity.” Increased information ties in with more efficiency, and that is exactly what the robots deliver, Andre says. “If you don’t know what you’re doing you cannot run your business efficiently, and that applies to the dairy industry as much as it does to any industry. I have detailed information from the milk about every cow, what their activity /rumination is, what the cell count is, the temperature of the milk, and if the cow is feeling ill. That information is unique to the robotic system. That’s why we went down the path of robotics.” And the robots don’t overmilk the cows. They recognise when a cow has just calved and milk accordingly, raising and lowering the number of milkings throughout the season, specific to each individual cow. With smaller groups of cows going into three paddocks, the land also benefits. Every eight hours a gate change directs the cows into a different area of the farm and sometimes there are cows in all three paddocks, minimising the risk of pugging. As for the humans, Andre’s alarm clock went out the window, and he has four hours to focus on other activities including spending more time with family, or perhaps making good use of the rich new information. Hailing from the Netherlands, Andre recalls his father saying people trained to milk cows by hand seventy years ago and when the milking machine made its debut everybody feared it would be the end of the industry. It wasn’t of course. Now robots have emerged, and it is indeed a brave new world. Contact Shane P: 06 379 5504 • M: 027 453 3505 E: grayscontractingltd@yahoo.co.nzv - Large reduction in artificial fertiliser requirements - Eliminate effluent separating equipment - Minimise laneway & paddock damage - High flow rate for fast & efficient effluent discharge - Highly cost effective for emptying large ponds - Significantly less nitrogen loss to the atmosphere SOLVE EFFLUENT COMPLIANCE ISSUES ALL AGRICULTURAL SERVICES AVAILABLE Wairarapa’s Rural Building Specialists • Pole Sheds • Garages • Covered Yards • Workshops Everyday LOW PRICES We are Chartered Accountants based in Carterton. Providing a full range of accounting, tax and business services for individuals, sole traders, partnership, companies & trusts from all sectors Wairarapa and NZ Wide. We aim to arm you with the right information, at the right time and for the right price in order for you to make the right decisions for your business. Proudly Supporting Andre & Annalies de Leeuw Parkvale Dairy Farm CONTACT US AT: 06 379 8312 | office@numb1z.co.nz | www.numb1z.co.nz
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=