10 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Gladvale Farms Early adopters of new technology The extended Lindsay family (top). Gladvale Farms encompasses five dairy units totalling 1350 hectares, and two support blocks totalling 600 hectares. Richard Loader Sixth generation Southland dairy farmer David Lindsay has always been an early adopter of new technology in the pursuit of better, more efficient and effective ways of doing things on farm. David’s farming business, Gladvale Farms, encompasses five dairy units totalling 1350 hectares, and two support blocks totalling 600 hectares. Four of the dairy units are in the Oreti Plains area, with the fifth unit forty kilometres away in Dipton West. Gladvale Farms generally milks 3500 cows across its farms. Heavy investment in cow barns and feed pads enables lactation to be extended to winter milking on two of the properties, while cows on the other three properties are wintered out to graziers. The support land is used for rearing beef cattle and dairy heifers. Keen to take more control over soil and nutrient testing, David did some on-line research and found that the appropriate technology and equipment was available overseas. “We did the cost benefit analysis and still found that the numbers stacked up, so imported the equipment, which we expect will give us more accurate and timely results. “We have only had it six months, so it is still quite new. Despite being expensive, there will be significant cost savings. “The equipment gives us much more control over the process because we are not having to we wait for someone to visit the farm and do the testing, then await the lab results before taking any action. As an example, we can test a paddock before putting it in crop, and get the results immediately in terms of what nutrients are required. “We can also test the efficacy of various organic nutrients that have been applied to the soil. The kit also includes other probes such as for soil moisture and we are experimenting to see if they will assist when we irrigate.” Having grown up on a farm David developed a passion for farming life and knew as a youngster that being a farmer was what he wanted to do. “Any spare time I had, when I wasn’t going to school, I was out on the farm helping dad with anything that needed doing. It gives you an understanding from a very young age about how to operate a farm.” Despite the well-publicised raft of rules, regulations and compliance reporting that have dogged farmers over the last couple of years, David remains passionate and optimistic about farming in New Zealand “Some of those rules and regulations are just unnecessary, counter-productive box-ticking exercises. “We have started to see a bit of a change under the National led coalition government and the outlook for farming is more positive than it was. We’re predominantly a pasture based system which provides obvious advantages at “We’re predominantly a pasture based system which provides obvious advantages at the moment when you look at what’s happening around the world.” the moment when you look at what’s happening around the world. I still think that New Zealand has a good story to tell around our farming and ETHAN MATHIESON M 027 634 7534 E mathiesonelectrical@gmail.com Fert Wholesale Direct Ltd Farmers, are you concerned about improving your fertiliser efficiency and environmental footprint? Then Fert Wholesale Direct Ltd can help, as we have helped Gladvale Farms Ltd. The ONE System which through independent trials shows a doubling of response to N. And more recently, our Revolutionary Compound Urea/SOA product where every granule contains both forms of N. Contact Shane Harold on 021 0235 6491 or shane@fertwholesale.co.nz the quality products we produce, so I think that we still have a lot to be excited about in respect to our future.”
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