There’s not a ‘Mooo’ to be heard on David Smith’s farm in Coastal Taranaki…but it’s not from a lack of cows, they’re just waiting for a pat before leaving the cow shed to graize more of that green green grass!
Dave’s herd of 200 jersey cows get milked twice a day, and he also has a bull rearing block – all managed on his own, so he’s proactive when it comes to investing in efficiencies.
When it comes to effluent management, Dave was already set up with a concrete lined effluent pond with electric stirrer, and he’d pump out to travelling irrigators.
He’s very careful with his fertiliser spend, and with the rising cost of synthetic fertiliser and the need to spread effluent over the entire farm, Dave could see the benefit of investing in a slurry tanker.
Now Dave’s looking forward to spreading those free nutrients over the entire farm and cutting back on the synthetics!
