Farm Information

The Farm

Farm Area

Milking platform: 299 ha

Support Block: 39 ha

Unproductive land: 2 ha

Milking infrastructure

60 bale rotary dairy with DeLaval plant and Delpro Herd Management software

Automatic cup removers and on-platform teat spray, Automatic drafting and weighing

Greenwash on the backing gate

Climate

Mean Annual Maximum Temperature - 17.7 oC

Mean Annual Minimum Temperature - 5.4 oC

Average Annual Soil Temperature – 11.0 oC

Average Annual Rainfall – 785.4 mm

Soil Types

Table 4: Soil types, locations and characteristics on farm

Soil type	Location	Characteristics
Edendale	Top terrace	Well drained, high WHC, seldom dries out
Pukemutu	Through centre of farm	Poorly drained due to sub surface pan between 600 and 900 mm deep. Vulnerable to waterlogging.
Makarewa	Bottom terrace	Poor aeration during wet periods due to poor sub surface drainage and slow permeability. Severely vulnerable to waterlogging in wet periods.

Staffing and management

Roster System – Year-round 8 on 2 off, 8 on 3 off

Milking Times – cups on at 5 am / 2.30 pm

Effluent System

Two receiving ponds with weeping walls, leading into a storage pond. Effluent applied by travelling irrigator. Solids cleared out November 2018. Some effluent applied by umbilical system in March 2019. Greenwash on the backing gate

Herd Details

Table 5: BW and PW as of 26 February 2023

		BW	PW
Pink – Std Swede/Baleage	Cows (230)	202	253
Blue – LI Baleage	Cows (141)	205	258
Green - Std FB	Cows (230)	203	254
Yellow – LI Kale	Cows (141)	217	271
Grouped	Yearlings	275	286

Farmlet Map

See Farmlet and FVI Map pdf

SDH Biosecurity Policy

Biosecurity is an important obligation for all visitors, please follow all instructions for the protection of SDH as a business and for protection of the research investments in place.

· All visitors that come on farm must have clean clothing along with clean covered in footwear

· Any visitor that has been on a property with a confirmed biosecurity incident must get permission to enter from either the farm or business manager.

· All visitors on farm must move through the biosecurity area at the shed. Footwear to be cleaned if need be with the scrubbing brush supplied then disinfected in the footbath. Non-waterproof footwear is to be disinfected via the walk-through sponge mat.

· No visitor access, under any circumstances from anyone within 5 days of their arrival in New Zealand from Central or South America, or any part of Asia. Further restrictions may be applied at any time dependent upon country of origin and international disease status.

· All visitor vehicles are to remain in the parking area and may not travel over the farm without permission of the tour leader or farm manager.