Carter Farms

Carter Farms, in the northern part of Southland, is 215ha of clay rich soil, milking a maximum of 650 cows. The cows are on the property over summer, while in winter, all stock are off-farm due to the severe winter weather. As the property is situated at 300 feet above sea level. Carter Farms has a 44-aside herringbone shed, constructed by Baz Janssen, with Nind Dairy Services contracted to advise, provide and install the GEA Milfos milking system and installation of the effluent system.

Carters Farm was recently featured in the Sun Live pullout feature on ‘New Farm Dairies’, a yearly publication showcasing the latest in dairy operations and innovations from around the country.

Nind installed a GEA Milfos iXPRESS4 system with swing arms at Carter Farms. Farm Manager Dean McMillan is very happy with the swing-over arm system. The system ensures the clusters sit squarely under the udder, milking each cow efficiently, and are very easy to use and simple to maintain. Further automation, such as the iCR intelligent automatic cup removers are “fantastic”.

Nind Dairy Services advised on the positioning and type of effluent systems to use on the farm. Effluent is well utilised, with green water used to wash the yard. With the contour of the farm, and site of the dairy shed, Nind took advantage of gravity to send effluent from the dairy shed to a weeping wall and two sludge beds. From here, solids are extracted, while liquid effluent is pumped down into a large lined storage pond and irrigated onto pasture via 3km of hydrant lines and K Line pods, guided by a Nind multi directional effluent system. The lines are monitored for pressure, enabling three different hydrant lines to be running at the same time, each with differing pressures, enabling efficient irrigation, regardless of the land contour.