Mixer makes feeding easy
Coolbreene Trust near Taupo is a large-scale dairy operation farming 1150ha, including run-off blocks, within a 10km radius of its home base.
One of the more interesting first-time exhibitors at National Fieldays was Storti, from Verona, NE Italy, showing a self-propelled, self-loading mixer wagon. This large machine was catching the eye of large scale dairy farmers.
Dating back to 1956, this company has extensive knowledge of the total mixed ration (TMR) market, evidenced by its range of trailed and self-propelled machines from 8-33m3 with vertical or horizontal mixing.
Most types of machine are also capable of self-loading, with a hydraulically driven cutter head on a loader arm mounted on the rear or front of the machine in the case of the self-propelled units. This has the major advantage of not needing a dedicated loader tractor, or in the worst case having to unhook the mixer wagon, load up, then re-connect to carry out a mix, which is very time consuming.
Storti marketing manager Ignacio Nunez mentioned standout features of the Doberman model on display: high efficiency rotor for a homogenous mix and low power consumption, bi-directional loading arm to suit all types of material being loaded, and heavy ladder construction chassis.
He also pointed out options such as the in-built weight system and the single lever control of the whole unit.
Nunez also announced the recent signing of a distribution agreement for New Zealand with Robertson Manufacturing, Canterbury, well known for their bale and silage feeders.
Robertson sales manager Tyronne Campbell commented, “The addition of Storti to our product offering allows us to cover the whole spectrum of animal feeding, and the decision to join forces with Storti is based on their worldwide reputation for experience in the TMR field.”
Robertson plans countrywide demonstrations of the Doberman self-propelled machine.
Tel. 03 303 7228
New Zealand dairy farmers are set to be the first in the world to receive access to a new digital physical milk pricing tool that enables them to fix the price for their physical milk.
State farmer Pāmu is opening its farm gates this summer in an effort to give the rural sector the opportunity to see how large-scale, multi-system farming is delivering productivity and profitability across New Zealand.
A five-year study has found that the cost of reducing emissions without technology may be significant and unsustainable for Northland dairy farmers.
DairyNZ says Waikato farmers need certainty on Plan Change 1, but they say that certainty must be matched with practical, workable rules and a clear transition that doesn't get ahead of the new resource management system currently under review.
While the Government has moved quickly to make commercial hauliers' lot easier during the current fuel crisis, they appear to be stuck in the creep box when it comes to the agricultural industry.
Waikato farmers have been told that the Government’s new planning system legislation and the region’s Plan Change 1 (PC1) “won’t mesh together very well”.