Paramount Farming Dairy farming is in the Blood, The Tappers are proud to be industry leaders in both old and new dairy industries. Kieryn (featured in the ad on the next page) and Jennifer initially bought the property five years ago on the outskirts of Cambridge as a dry stock block to run beef cattle. After visiting a Maui milk open day and conversations with family they knew that this was the perfect property for sheep dairy farming, giving them both the opportunity to maximise profitability but also including the 4th generation into the farming practise. Kieryn loves the fact that he can milk with his young sons, 8 and 10, due to the gentle nature and size of the milking ewe. Kieryn commented that milking with his young sons wouldn’t be possible if this was a cow dairy operation, but between himself and one of his sons they can have the 550 milked out and the shed cleaned in 90 minutes. Kieryn and Jennifer are just finishing off their first season of milking sheep, although very testing at the beginning of the season training the ewes through the milking shed and first year lambing large numbers they have loved every minute of it. Qubik’s Nick Heffer, managed the project closely with Kieryn after many months of design and consultation. The team worked closely with Don Chapman from Waikato Ltd and electricians Mylcrest Electrical to have the shed ready for the sheep milking operation to begin sending milk in July 2021. Nick suggested using a Qubik designed and manufactured stainless steel rapid exit system that is designed to work efficiently especially if the dairy shed has tight gaps between milking pit to wall. Once the sheep have finished milking, the whole rapid exit system lifts up allowing the sheep to exit underneath the whole stalling and can exit on an angle, rather than straight out and then having to turn. The Te Awamutu designed and built unit is made from high grade 304 stainless steel to withstand the continual washing down required to meet good hygiene standards. The milking shed is running a 42 x Waikato Milking Systems plant with “S” Cup removers supplied and installed by Qubik. The cup removers work extremely well with the sheep, they have delicate teats, and this eliminates over milking, as well as reducing the amount of labour required in the milking shed. The sheep milking plant is using the Waikato SmartPULS pulsators which provide gentle, accurate pulsation with rippled timing to ensure a stable milking vacuum. The digital pulsation system opens and closes the sheep liners consistently and reliably every milking – providing optimum milking performance. The SmartPULS has been designed to work in harmony with the sheep for maximum milk quantity and quality, limiting congestion and oedema in teat tissues during milking, reducing sheep discomfort and new mastitis infection. Qubik also installed a BP200 with 7.5kw motor and Smartdrive. For Kieryn to meet the strict milk cooling regulations, a Stainless Steel 5000-litre double bank plate cooler is installed alongside a Waikato Milking Systems top loading milk filter for ease of use and effective cleaning.
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Goat & Sheep Milk NZ - Issue 6 | April 2022
“We have a 9100-litre stainless steel vat with a new Qubik supplied and installed 10HP vat refrigeration unit to keep the milk below three degrees between our four-day pickups,” says Kieryn. Qubik also supplied and installed the water system for the shed, including two Rheem dairy hot water cylinders, a heater stand and a Qubik custom made and designed stainless steel wash tub. The new wash down and cooler pumps are linked to the existing dairy shed framework. “We’ve been really pleased with the Qubik automatic plant wash. It activates after every milking at a push of a button allowing the one who is milking to hose down and the other to concentrate on other farm jobs,” says Kieryn. The automatic system ensures the correct amounts of acid and alkali, and the correct volumes of hot and cold water are used.
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The smartdrive is a variable speed drive that compensates for vacuum use by increasing or decreasing the vacuum pump speed on demand. Using a transducer mounted into the main airline the variable speed device will monitor and adjust the vacuum, sensing every minute airflow change and compensating for this by altering the speed of the vacuum pump. – Waikato Milking System’s Regional Manager: sales and service, Ben Frederickson.
