Investing in cow comfort

“Here in Lockington we have had more than our annual rainfall of 350mm already and it is so wet, but the cows in the barn are comfortable and very happy,” John said.

Currently there are currently 500 cows housed in the barn but John is expecting that to hit 850 to 900 as they learn the way around.

The heifers have only been in for four days and they have transitioned well and are happily resting in the sand stalls.

They currently occupy one side of the barn with the cows on the other.

John said the decision to build the barn was always about cow comfort.

“Heat was the main reason, I didn’t like to see the cows suffering and the same goes for mud in the winter and of course they don’t have to walk anywhere now, just from the barn to the dairy and back again.”

The build took around three years, including two years spent on planning and permits.

“Cow comfort was the number one reason and we wanted to make things simple so every day is the same and there aren’t too many surprises.”

By "surprises", John means jobs like having to pull a mixer wagon out of the mud with an excavator — something he had to do at the other farm that very morning.

Eventually John will combine the milking herds and there are plans afoot to build an additional two barns over the coming years, but John reckons that will be someone else's problem and not his.

The barn is 225m long and 50m wide.

Instead of a central feed alley, John opted for one along each side of the barn. Being under cover but outside the shed, the design eliminated the need for an additional row of fans.

It also makes it easier to fill the feed alley as you don’t have to muck around with the tractor and mixer as it is just a simple loop and no big turning circles are required.

Rather than hang the fans from the roof they chose to individually mount each one.

“I have seen a lot of wildly swinging fans in windy weather. This way they will be a bit more secure and stable and if something does go wrong, they can be fixed by just climbing a normal ladder so it should be a lot safer.”

John had travelled extensively looking at barns around the world and one thing he knew for sure was sand was the best bedding option, provided it was the right type — sand that doesn't compact too tightly.

And luckily for him he has a good supply of quality sand just down the road.

“We had a guy come out from Canada and he said that is the best quality sand he has ever seen.”

When it came to the sand trap, they built a concave design that allows machinery to move in and out easily.

It also provided an extra 10 to 15 metres of space and avoided the need for costly concrete retaining walls.

All the outside infrastructure has been built to support a three-barn system and down the track they will incorporate a solid separator.

The plan is to calve the herd all year round for flat milk production and they have already commenced implementing this strategy. One farm supplies Fonterra and the other Lactalis.

Depending on water prices, John usually grows around 200ha of corn followed by a vetch crop.

“We have been double-cropping some areas for 18 years and haven’t had any trouble.”

With about 2000ha, the business is largely self-sufficient but it does depend on the season and the price of temporary water.

John grew up on a dairy farm and moved away to become a shearer for 12 years. This enabled him to buy two farms and in the off season he would hook up his dad’s baler.

“It was a waste to see the baler just sit there and do nothing so I decided to use it, and that’s how our contracting business started.”

As the family grew John and Sue ended up buying another farm for the land and water but it also had a dairy on it.

“In 2004 we had the opportunity to buy around 300 heavily in-calf export heifers from Elders for $500 and we were given six months to pay for them.

“It was too good a deal not to take and that’s how we ended up milking cows.

“We still have a bit too learn with the barn but for early days things are going pretty well,” he said.