116 | nzdairy RURAL SERVICES » Advanced Dairy Barns A leading provider in dairy barn solutions Bernadette Cooney Advanced Dairy Barns Ltd, a leading provider of dairy barn solutions across Southland and South Otago has announced the addition of the Sveaverken brand feed pusher, to its range of automated dairy barn accessories. Founded in 2006 as a sister company to Winton Engineering Ltd, Advanced Dairy Barns was established following a local request for a Dutch-style wintering barn, says its founder Rodger Short. “From there it grew and today we offer a full turnkey solution for dairy barn construction from start to finish - including consents to concrete work, stalls and bales, water troughs, cow mattresses, and effluent systems.” Spearheaded by three generations including Rodger, his son Justin and his grandson Brayden, Advanced Dairy Barns offer a range of designs with options for supply and install of all barn equipment and now the automated and programmable Sveaverken feed pusher. “We had customers asking about feed pushers, so we became an agent for Swedish brand Sveaverken which is one of the smartest automation products available,” says Rodger. Advanced Dairy Barns offer a wide range of designs. The NIMBO feed pusher offers a combination of remote monitoring, guidance by visual camera and ultrasonic sensors. Unlike earlier models on the market, Sveaverken Nimbo offers remote monitoring via camera, allowing farmers to check its operation from their phones or computers. “You can program them, then monitor remotely through your phone or laptop and see exactly what it’s doing,” says Rodger. The Swedish factory can even log in remotely to assist with programming should they need to. “This frees the farmer up and provides more time for other tasks.” For barns with more complex layouts, Nimbo also offers an optional LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology-based 3D mapping upgrade. This enables precision navigation around beams, twists, and obstacles within larger barns. “It’s a bolt-on that takes it to the next level using 3D radar monitoring,” explains Rodger. “You can plot out its map on a 3D plotter and then it will follow that path precisely. And it still has the camera so you can see what’s happening remotely.” Advanced Dairy Barns and their automation options, keep cows warmer and healthier when wintering over which can result in longer lactation periods. “Which means you can milk on the shoulders of the season, with the extra milk soon paying for the shed.” Advanced Dairy Barns range from 90m x 36.5m (which can house up to 400 cows) and continue up to 195m x 36.5m (930 cows). The largest barn built to date was 200m x 70m (1680 cows) and housed 24 milking robots. To date, one Nimbo feed pusher has been installed, with two more ordered – one for a recently completed Advanced Dairy barn at Springhills, while the other will be fitted into a barn under construction at Forest Hill. Advanced Dairy Barns Ltd can also supply kitset barns, or structural steel for any large shed, deliverable nationwide. The company can install across South Otago and Southland. Rodger is confident the demand for wintering barns and their advanced automation will keep growing as environmental pressures and desire for cost saving efficiencies continue. SPOUTING Proudly supporting Advanced Dairy Barns Ltd
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