Down in south Gippsland Australia, Ian Conn and his son Matthew run a dairy farm with 1150 cows on 2500 acres and knew it was time to upgrade their effluent management system. “Safety is one of the big things,” Ian said. After a mate lost his son to a farming accident, Ian wants other farmers to know that safer approaches to dairy farm management are out there and cost effective.
Ian purchased his greenfield site in 2019 and started with 620 cows that nearly doubled four years later. Ian looked at all the possible options for effluent management from weeping walls to slope screens, but the best situation for their farm was a two-pond system and making sure it was stirred and active all the time. Ian upgraded to two effluent ponds, the first one 3 - 4 million litres and the second about 12 million litres that could be stirred with a Nevada Electric Pond Stirrer. “We got great value for money really. A really reliable product, which you need these days, so you don’t have to spend a great deal afterwards keeping it maintained,” Ian noted. “We wanted to make sure it was up to EPA standards, and we realised the resources we got there are valuable. We just need to do the right thing by the environment and ourselves, because it is a valuable resource.”
Upgrading to an electric pond stirrer gave Ian and Matthew the ability to keep everything in suspension and to pump out effluent to 200 acres on the farm consistently. An electric pond stirrer is easy to service without hassle and can be wound up and pulled to the side without anyone having to go near or in the water. By getting the best even spread of nutrients across their acreage, they are able to utilise a valuable resource they already own and fertilise the farm effectively for better yield.
Ian noted that the Nevada team gave great advice on what to do and how to set everything up. More flexibility with an electric pond stirrer allows for greater efficiency in fully stirring the first effluent pond to ensure optimal nutrients are all passed through the irrigation system to the paddocks. When asked about the process of receiving a Nevada stirrer, Ian expressed, “Being in Australia, we were concerned it would come over in a million pieces and spend days putting it together. We picked it up and it was fully assembled, which was huge for us.”
With the farm covering a flat area, their effluent management system consists of an irrigation pipe system with a hard hose attachment. By having the effluent stirred properly before it reaches the paddocks, the nutrients are evenly mixed beforehand to ensure better spread of valuable nutrients. “You can see the difference in the grass,” Ian said. The ability to set the Nevada Electric Pond Stirrer on a timer means they can mix and spread effluent throughout the whole season. For their farm, spreading fresh effluent on the paddocks as organic fertiliser throughout the year means less wear and tear on the tracks and properly conditions the soil.
While nutrients are an important aspect of the upgrade, ponds have always been in the back of Ian’s mind when looking at effluent management solutions. Safety was the number one requirement for him when upgrading equipment. “Thanks for making a great product, it’s done exactly what we hoped it would do,” Ian said. With the stirrer managed on a timer that can keep solids in suspension the whole season, Ian and Matthew can optimise their time on the farm for safer outcomes and better returns.
“For safety reasons, I don’t want people backing up tractors into ponds. If I can convince one more person to not back a tractor, then I’m happy,” Ian said. With well-built equipment designed to meet safety standards, Nevada offers peace of mind with solutions to suit any situation for dairy farmers.
