Rein 'Deere' spreads Christmas cheer
The Brandt Hastings team, joined by Rudolph the Red-Nose Rein ‘Deere’, spread holiday cheer this week at the Hawke’s Bay Hospital children’s ward.
Milking and technology specialist DeLaval has begun an 18,000m² rebuild at its Hamra Farm in Sweden.
The upgrade and investment are centred around more modern and sustainable dairy production, including new barns, four new automatic milking robots, DeLaval VMS V300, and more digital solutions to improve animal health, quality, and efficiency.
The cows at Hamra produce an average of 12,200kg energy corrected milk (ECM) per cow, per year, and with this new investment, DeLaval hopes to increase that number even further. The company says that Hamra Farm has always promoted animal welfare and high quality as two of its main operating criteria.
Johan Bjurevall, managing director at Hamra Farm says it has always had a big focus on animals and their well-being.
“That is part of our philosophy – good animal husbandry and long-term planning often result in good yield. We are incredibly happy with the new possibilities the investment gives us.
“To be part of planning and building such a modern farm with a longterm focus is fantastic.”
The investment means doubling the number of cows, which the company said it has carefully planned during the past few years. The new barns will house 550 dairy cows and 500 young stock of the Swedish red cattle breed and Holsteins. In addition to the farm being run as a commercial dairy operation, it is also used as a test facility where DeLaval products are tested and developed, alongside being a demonstration farm for visiting customers.
DeLaval says the investment is being made to continue the development of modern and sustainable milk production, while continuously finding new and innovative solutions for more sustainability, with a high focus on animal health.
This is hoped to be achieved with the help of automatic solutions, more digital systems that will give the farmers important information at the right time, and good animal knowledge and advice.
The plan is to have the first animals move in at the beginning of 2024.
Steph Le Brocq and Sam Allen, a bride and groom-to-be, are among those set to face off in regional finals across New Zealand in the hopes of being named the Young Farmer of the Year.
For the primary sector, 2024 would go down as one of the toughest years on record. Peter Burke reports.
Environment Southland says it has now ring-fenced $375,000 for new funding initiatives, aimed at enhancing water quality.
National Lamb Day, the annual celebration honouring New Zealand’s history of lamb production, could see a boost in 2025 as rural insurer FMG and Rabobank sign on as principal partners.
The East Coast Farming Expo is playing host to a quad of ‘female warriors’ (wahine toa) who will give an in-depth insight into the opportunities and successes the primary industries offer women.
New Zealand Food Safety (NZFS) is sharing simple food safety tips for Kiwis to follow over the summer.
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