10 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Aaron & Fiona Campbell Farm improvements set in concrete Photos: A new concrete entry and exit to the feed pad and new maize bunkers have improved the day-to-day operations on the farm. Aaron Campbell (left) with long serving staff members Dave Olsen (middle) and Amy Harris. Kelly Deeks A smooth running system at Aaron and Fiona Campbell’s Manawatu dairy farm has the couple nding the balance between work and family, as they also balance the milk cheque with their Production System 5 operation. The Campbells are now in their seventh season of ownership of their 93ha farm at Bunnythorpe, near Palmerston North, and although they were willing to do whatever it took to get from sharemilkers to farm owners, they were also mindful of making time for family life with their three sons, now 15, 17, and 18. They struggled to achieve this while employing two full time staff as they found after rostering days off, there were really only ever two people running the farm. So now they have six casual and part-time staff for whom milk harvesting at the Campbells’ place is their secondary job. There is always someone to call on if an extra hand is required, and Aaron even gets to have most Sundays off work. With their HR running smoothly, Aaron and Fiona turned their attention to the farm’s infrastructure, and what they could do to improve day to day operations. “Concrete, concrete, concrete,” Fiona says. “We already had a feed pad, but its entry and exit were both metal and caused a lot of bruising and uneccessary lameness. So the rst load of concrete went to adding an entry and exit to the feed pad, keeping the stones away from the shed, and it makes it a lot easier to scrape every day.” A further 2000sqm of concrete was used to build new maize bunkers which are now helping the Campbells to reduce wastage and retain the quality of their silage before it is fed out. They have also increased their herringbone shed from 24-a-side to 34-a-side, cutting half an hour from each milking. “Then we decided our house was a bit small and we needed a bigger living area and a new kitchen,” Aaron says. “I said to Fiona ‘I’ve done all this concrete work on the farm, you can project manage the house’, and now we have a nice house to come home to at the end of the day.” The Campbells’ 370 cows milk all year round for Open Country Dairy, with 270 spring calvers and about 70 autumn calvers plus carry overs. They are fed with approximately two tons of maize per cow on top of palm kernel with DDGS and molasses A&F CAMPBELL Forage Services is proud to be associated with A&F Campbell in the production of grass and maize for silage. For all your Electrical, Heat Pump & Refrigeration needs Office/showroom: 7 Gladstone St, Feilding www.apbelectrical.co.nz e: sales@apbelectrical.co.nz Ph: 0800 272 363 Call the professionals combined. With supplement prices having increased up to 50%, the current high milk payout is welcome, but also needed. The Campbells have planted 10.5ha of maize on the dairy platform for the past two seasons, and another 10ha on their nearby 70ha lease block this season. They are saving on fertiliser by using liquid urea at half the rate they used to use in granules.
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