2 minute read
Arnold Waikato
by Sun Media
Steve Edwards
A Waikato dairy goat operation serves a dual purpose – milk supply and research.
Farm overseer Keith Arnold says an existing goat milking facility, on 24ha at Pukeatua, was scaled down to also incorporate the research aspect when Hamilton-based Dairy Goat Co-operative (DGC) took over on June 1, 2020.
Keith, who doubles as shareholder services manager at DGC, says the herd has gone from 850 to 450 but the 24-aside herringbone milking shed now boasts a rapid exit system and advanced milk metering/ sampling technology.
GEA Farm Technologies was responsible for the high line swing over rapid exit herringbone system, which includes swing arms, bail terminals with Animal ID, and live milk weights, milk meters and samplers with every animal recorded on Goat Dairy plan software.
GEA area sales manager and small ruminant milking expert, Grant Coburn, says Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) via ear tag is at the heart of the GEA system.
Individual screens, monitored by staff in the pit, show each goat’s milking time, production, and ID while milk samples are also taken for research purposes. Physical work on the existing shed centred on lifting the roof to accommodate the rapid exit and in-bail feeding systems. A smooth flow into and out of the milking shed is one of the features.
Computer records
Grant says all information, including data on animal health, mating and kidding, is fed into the farm computer.
Grant says the European design features pneumatic bails with indexing gates which align the animals in the exact position for milking.
The goats “self-load” the stalls quickly and correctly, he says.
After milking all the stalls lift-up, allowing for rapid exit, says Grant.
He says this increases the number of animals milked per hour, while reducing labour input and stress on livestock.
This technology is now commonly used in goat and sheep milking sheds, says Grant.
Once in, he says the goats are held exceptionally well for milking.
The bails come in units of six, with the 24-aside design based on the size of the existing shed, he says. Goats are tempted into the bails by an automatic in-bail feed dispensing system, also supplied and installed by GEA Farm Technologies. He says a controlled amount of feed goes into individual bins for the goats during milking.
Pit changes
In the pit area, Keith says changes were made to the clusters, milk-lines and pulsators.
Working in tandem with GEA in this part of the project was Milk ‘n’ Water Services Matamata.
Milking machine technician Peter Taylor says Milk ‘n’ Water Services Matamata
