Overgaauw Robotic Dairy Farm, Winton


Farm Facts:
Herd size:	320 Holstein Friesian cows
Number of AMS:	4 Lely A3 robots, 3 graze-way selection units
Calving pattern:	Year round milk supply
Commissioning date/year:	Established September 2008
Labour:	Owners, some shared support staff from adjacent 500 cow farm owned by Overgaauw’s
Technical Support:	JJ’s Ltd, Invercargill
Features:	- High production grass-based system with wintering barn - 95 effective hectares, flat, divided into three main grazing areas (A B C) - Wintering barn - Barley and molasses fed in the AMS

A decision to become one of the first dairy farmers to use an automatic milking system has paid off for Southlanders Janet and Bill Overgaauw.

The couple saw automatic milking work in Europe 20 years ago and were quick to adopt the technology when it was adapted to the New Zealand pasture-based system.

In their eighth season milking in New Zealand, after dairy farming in Holland, Janet says the conversion to the automatic milking system has gone “quite smoothly”.

“The first milking was the hardest,” she says. “You had to push the cows in. But basically within a fortnight, 75 per cent of the cows were going in by themselves.”

They are continually evolving their business.

Since adopting the technology they have moved from seasonal to split-calving (60% spring, 40% autumn) and winter their 320 friesian cows in a cubicle, which they built in 2010.

“In winter there are days when it is too wet and too cold and damage to the paddocks occurs. We got the wintering barns for the winter milk, so we can feed the cows properly,” says Bill.

The farm has been divided into three blocks, A, B and C which are divided into 10 paddocks of three hectares. Cows get access to a new grazing area every eight hours as they move between the dairy and each block.

The Overgaauws adopted the automatic milking system so they could do more for the individual cows than in normal cowsheds - for example, increase milk production from a higher milking frequency. They also felt cows would be happier in the robotic milking environment and automation would allow a more flexible working day.

They have achieved all this and more.

Production and animal health have both improved.

“We have less lame cows, fewer cases of mastitis and the cows are generally friendlier around people,” says Bill.

Their work load has changed.

They feel that they are controlling more of the farm operation. In a conventional shed they used to be focussed mainly on the cow’s udder but now use the computer for this information.

Janet says most of their time is spent overseeing the operation and monitoring the computer. “You can see if a cow has not been in for a while or if one is coming up a lot for milking,” she says. Getting used to the technology has been a challenge and although there have been a few hiccups along the way, Janet says “Help is only a phone call away.”

Although it was a big decision to convert to the automatic milking system, and being one of the first in the country to do it, Janet says they are pleased they gave it a go.

“I think it will be the way of the future. If you look in Europe a lot of farmers are converting to robotic milking. But I think a lot of farmers in New Zealand have to get their heads around it, I think for New Zealand it is a big step up.”