Stefan’s Got His Effluent System Sorted

Heading into Winter he’s pretty relaxed knowing there’s plenty of storage, with effluent being spread between a wintering shed pond, a cow shed pond, and a run-off pond.

‘We cart effluent over to the run-off pond by truck and dump it over there. We just collect it over winter and spread when it’s needed.’
Stefan Roulston – Dairy Farmer, South Otago

Stefan first got in touch with Nevada when he was on the search for a slurry tanker.

‘It was the expense of getting contractors in [to spread over the farms] and getting effluent on when you wanted to.’

After doing his homework, he found Nevada to be the best value for money, having all the specs at a good price. His only concern had been whether or not his tractor could handle pulling the tanker…

‘I had set my expectations that it’s a 14,500L slurry tanker, and we’ve only got a 180 horsepower tractor, but it’s been fine. The tanker is pretty jolly good. No real issues with it. No issues really at all.’

The slurry tanker allows Stefan to spread over both the dairy farm and the run-off farm. In typical Otago fashion, there’s a few creeks and streams running over the property, but the light, controlled application of the RainWave^™ applicator makes it easy for Stefan to steer clear of the waterways and there’s no concern over run-off.

‘It looks thick, but it’s a real light application so it doesn’t run away and we’re not worried about it getting into streams.’

The light application also means the cows can go back to grazing faster.

‘We’re really happy with it. It’s been pretty good. The service has been pretty good too. Whenever we’ve needed parts they’ve got here pretty fast.’