NZ Dairy Winter 2021

114 | nz dairy DAIRY SERVICES » Mainland Engineering & Dairy Systems Strong milk prices boost farm upgrades Qualified Mainland Engineering staff are on-call 24 hours a day – seven days a week – to ensure farmers can always keep milking. The company is also getting a lot of orders across the country for Reporoa High Lift Backing Gates. Kim Newth T aupo-based rural service company Mainland Engineering & Dairy Systems is noticing a strong lift in business from dairy farmers with rising milk prices allowing many to finally catch up on equipment and systems in need of investment. “I think some farmers had been holding off, bu t now that milk prices are getting better they’re looking at more improvement than in the past,”says Mainland Engineering managing direc- tor Daniel Gorton. “We’re busy doing dairy shed servicing and repair work and we’re also getting a lot of Reporoa High Lift Backing Gate sales with orders from across New Zealand and beyond.” Reporoa Engineering invented the Reporoa High Lift Gate – New Zealand’s first solid, rectangular yard backing gate – which has since revolutionised yard management in the dairy sec- tor. Today, the backing gates have an international market and are exported around the world. After going into partnership with Reporoa Engineering, Mainland Engineering took over manufacture of the backing gates four or five years ago and provides associated installation and maintenance services. Dairy farmers are also turning to Mainland Engineering for effluent system upgrades, such as adding solid separation systems. There is also a lot of interest in equipment to boost efficiencies in the shed, such as automated systems for draft- ing, meal feeding, teat spraying and cup removal. Delivering consistency and reliability, these au- tomated systems are also good for cows and cow health. Mainland Engineering & Dairy Systems can cover all these requirements and more, of- fering a complete service to dairy farmers. These services also include dairy shed structural steel works, yard construction, dairy plant installations, dairy shed water systems, repairs and mainte- nance. “We’ve fitted a lot of sheds over the last 15 to 20 years and, of course, they all need mainte- nance, so we really do have a strong focus on maintenance and farm upgrades. From a farmer’s perspective, it’s really important to have a good service provider that you’re comfortable with and to help you make informed upgrade decisions. We can certainly help guide farmers with all their dairy system options.” Another big part of the business is in sheep and goat milking sheds; Mainland Engineering works in conjunction with milking equipment suppliers GEA. • to page 116