Future of farming in use today

Future of farming in use today

New Zealand farming has a well-deserved history of innovation and ingenuity, and farmers looking to the future tend to be early adopters of new technology and scientific advancements.

None more so than Bill Overgaauw, who runs a robotic dairy farm in Southland. He brought his experience with him from Holland 10 years ago and quickly took on board new techniques and products in New Zealand.

For example, Bill and his wife Janet winter their Friesian cows in wintering sheds on their robotic farm. He has engineered a wintering barn that pools effluent underground as opposed to in effluent ponds. This effluent is then spread over the farm using slurry trucks in the summer.

There’s no other wintering shed in the region like this that collects effluent under the shed, pooling it at one end so it can be collected without removing any of the concrete slabs.

Bill is keen to share his thinking, and hosts field days for farmers to inspect his robotic process and wintering strategy, often throwing on a BBQ and music afterwards.

The Overgaauws run three cows per hectare and operate a split calving policy: 60% in the spring and 40% in the autumn. The autumn cows get to winter over in a barn that holds 200.

Last year they managed 640 MS/cow, about 1800MS/ha.

Bill is constantly looking for innovative ways to increase production and make his life easier. That’s why he installed a robotic milking system.

“I can see more robotic farms taking off in New Zealand, as farmers get to replace their milking sheds or convert to dairy.

“People like it,” says Bill. “They are always very positive about it.”

Bill and Janet also own and run an adjacent farm, which operates as a conventional dairy unit, so they get to compare the results of robotic versus conventional on a daily basis.

When they bought the original farm, it was already a Summit Quinphos customer, and the farm rep talked them into staying with SQ. Bill didn’t know anything about SQ’s products at first, but eight years ago was keen to try an innovative new product SustaiN, which makes him one of the first New Zealand farmers to do so.

That’s one of the reasons he was chosen to be the face of SQ’s spring advertising campaign for SustaiN. He is an early adopter and innovator. Few New Zealand farmers can have more experience using SustaiN – granular urea coated with Agrotain.

He has used it every year since, and remains enthusiastic about the product. He says he tries to be very accurate in his applications, and follows the recommendations given by Simon Croom, his SQ field consultant.

“Bill has used SustaiN since it was first out,” says Simon. “He has achieved a big reduction in total nitrogen (N) use and has increased the total production he can produce throughout the year. He operates on 120-140kg N/ha/yr, and is very strategic with N use and is specific on application timings.”

The Overgaauws use SustaiN FPA (fine particle analysis) during spring and granular SustaiN throughout the rest of the year.

“SustaiN is good. It costs a little more, you pay a little more, and my feeling is that is what holds some farmers back from using it,” says Bill.

“But I am very happy with the result. I definitely get more grass and a longer growth cycle.”

His willingness to try new products also had him using Crystalyx for his young calves and dry cows for the past 12 months or so – again, ahead of the pack. The Crystalyx range of dehydrated molasses blocks was introduced by SQ from the United Kingdom in February this year.

“I always like new products – new ideas,” says Bill, explaining why he trialled the Crystalyx blocks before their release.

“I get great service from Summit Quinphos and I am happy to be the face of their SustaiN advertising.”

ENDS

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