10 minute read
Rushbrooke Farm Waikato
by Sun Media
Clare Bayly Katherine and Matthew Spataro say the move from corporate to farm life has been challenging but very satisfying.
Matthew and Katherine sorting ewes for hoof trimming in the remodelled yards.
The change in lifestyle that Matthew and Katherine Spataro undertook could not be more extreme – from the pace and pressure of Melbourne’s business precinct to a newly converted sheep dairy on the outskirts of Te Awamutu.
Up until late 2019 Australian-born Matthew worked as a project manager in the construction and facilities industry while his Kiwi wife, Katherine, worked in marketing for a major oil and gas organisation. He had no experience of rural life, whereas Katherine had grown up on her parents’ dairy farm, albeit with no direct involvement.
Katherine recalls they were pretty happy with their lives in Melbourne, but then got a proposition from her parents.
“Mum is the 5th generation to own the 95hectare farm. Dad was a townie but, after marrying, they milked cows for fi ve or six years before putting a manager on the farm. That was 25 years ago.
“Towards the end of 2019, my parents asked my brother and I if we were interested in taking over the management of the farm, as the long-term manager was retiring.
A new opportunity
“Matthew and I started looking at the options, initially considering cropping and forestry before we came across the then fl edgling dairy sheep business. The concept ticked a lot of boxes – we wanted to reduce intensity and input on the farm and liked the environmental attributes of milking sheep.
“After doing as much research as we could, including visits to sheep milking operations in the Melbourne region, we took the plunge and signed with Spring Sheep, packed up our lives and moved to the farm in November 2019.
Matthew says their lack of knowledge and experience meant they needed to employ as much technology as they could to generate data, which would enable them to manage the output of the herd and farm.
“One of the most obvious differences between milking cows and sheep is that cows
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Screens guide the ewes from the collection yard into the dairy.
Hoof trimming is a breeze with the Hecton Sheep Handler. Katherine and Matthew also use it for dagging, crutching and vaccinating. The exit race from the dairy is easily directed to either the paddock or the drafting gate.
Matthew Spataro and DeLaval’s Chris Watkins with the DeLaval Sort Gate which automatically drafts animals according to drafts set either in the dairy or remotely.
are generally easily distinguished from each other whereas sheep tend to look the same, so data is the only way to differentiate one ewe from another.
Deciding on the detail
A range of discussions were held with Pratt Milking Machines, Te Awamutu Construction, DeLaval, Landmore Agri and Waipa Electrical to agree the detail of the dairy conversion.
After a visit to the farm and discussions with Matthew, Pat Gibson of Te Awamutu Construction designed and drew plans that allowed for the installation of a 30-aside Rapid Exit sheep milking system.
Demolition of the existing concrete bail area and raised drench races was carried out and the existing pit shortened to allow raising of the pit level and provide the sheep with a 200mm stepdown from the bails. Good flow into an out-of-the-bail area is critical, so Pat designed corridors from the existing circular yard to the bail area, and an exit race which incorporated a milling area, left-hand draft to a holding pen and footbath.
A new floor and drainage points were added to the plant room to tie into the existing drainage and an additional vat room was developed to accommodate an office and staff room.
The existing pole-shed was developed into a lambing shed with an initial extension of 250m2; this will again be extended by 300m2 for the 2021 lambing season.
New tech
Zakk Pratt of Pratt Milking Machines recalls the original plan was to install a DeLaval sheep rapid exit system and milking machine but Covid changed all that, lockdown preventing the importation of the rapid exit system.
“Fortuitously Pratts have an in-house fabrication team which, at short notice, designed, built and installed the first Pratts Rapid Exit System. From the word go it took around 2.5 months from concept to a fully operational rapid exit system complete with feed bins. The finished product is testament to the innovation and standards of our specialist teams.”
Chris Watkins, DeLaval commercial manager Oceania, says the converted dairy features a sophisticated level of technology to efficiently and automatically collect the data Katherine and Matthew need to manage the flock.
Inside the lamb rearing shed, converted by Te Awamutu Construction from a three bay implement shed. It provides a warm environment for 900+
Lambs are fed colostrum from day one and then ad lib feeding from three DeLaval Automatic Lamb Feeders, each capable of feeding 250 lambs.
The remodelled milk room with left vat storing milk at three degrees for twice weekly pick-up, and the old cow vat on the right contains chilled water as part of the cooling process. Matthew Spataro checks production statistics after every milking – here sharing with DeLaval’s Chris Watkins.
The Pratt Rapid Exit Sheep Dairy in its lowered position, left, and raised, right. The feed bins are automatically filled via the Landmore Agri feed system so the bins are full for the next row.
“The brains of the dairy is the DeLaval DelPro Flock Management System which collects, combines and analyses data on every animal. Milk yield, flow, duration and stall position are collected at every milking and fed to the Flock Management System by the DeLaval Milking Point Controller MPC580. The milking system features ICAR certified Milk Meters, EP100 Pulsators and TF100ML clusters.
Exceeding goals
Major components in the existing Landmore Agri in-shed feed system were in good condition recalls managing director Shayne King.
“We were able to utilise the silo, drive motors, and auger, simply modifying the feed bins and dispenser units for sheep,” says Shayne.
The dairy’s technology called for a major upgrade of its electrical system and this was carried out by Te Awamutu based Waipa Electrical Services.
Katherine recalls that, despite the delay caused by the Covid lockdown, the dairy revamp was completed by their goal date – just.
Lambing the 650 ewes supplied by Spring Sheep started in July and finished in September. Matthew says the variation in lambing date is an outcome of the ewes coming from different farms.
“All lambs are reared in the rearing shed, starting off on colostrum and going on to ad lib feeding via the DeLaval Auto Lamb Feeders.
Looking back on their first year as dairy sheep farmers, Matthew and Katherine say it was the right decision.
“At times we questioned our sanity, especially around the Covid lockdown days,” says Katherine.
The Spataro herd will increase to 780-800 ewes in 2021 with a goal to milk 1000 the following year.
