Daniel’s Keeping Abreast Of New Developments

‘We’re a long-established family farm, and we like to stay abreast of new developments.’
Daniel Nelson – Dairy Farmer, Te Kauwhata, North Waikato

Previously a sump collected effluent from a feed pad with a barrier ditch, which was then pumped out to travelling irrigators. Although the system worked, with growth of the farm, the system was starting to strain.

Daniel began his search for a solution and contacted Nevada. Mike took a visit out to the farm to see how it all operated, and discuss Daniel’s long term goals for the farm.

‘Our long-term goal is to use the effluent we’ve got more effectively, and efficiently.’

The first issue to address was storage. The sump was no longer enough to safely store all the effluent during times where spreading wasn’t an option, so a large HDPE lined pond was installed along with a Nevada electric stirrer to keep the effluent well mixed and prevent nutrients separating out and accumulating at the bottom of the pond. The effluent then drains back into the sump ready for spreading.

‘The pond is great for storage over the wet months so we can spread when it’s most needed.’

Keeping the sump in use means if there was any sediment it would be drained by the sump and sucked out by the new 14,700L Nevada slurry tanker – so there’s less strain on the pump and irrigator system, and no nutrients are going to waste.

Daniel chose a 14,700L slurry tanker as it was the most efficient size for spreading the effluent over the entire farm without needing to make multiple trips back to the sump.

‘It’s great! Now we can spread anywhere. I was surprised how easy it is to pull.’

All in all Daniel’s really happy with their investment…

‘We’re pretty happy with it all. It’s met our goals of futureproofing the farm so we’re not worried about issues cropping up, and we’re making more effective use of the nutrients. The system is efficient and fast, so it’s not a drain on time. It’s been well worth the investment.’