Based twenty minutes outside of Rotorua in Hamurana, Liz Hodgson runs 240 friesian cows on 136 hectares that supply Open Country Dairy and the family business Volcanic Creamery. Liz alongside her son Hamish provide cafes and stores around the Bay of Plenty with premium milk and yoghurt. “We started this business here as a value add for our farm and to give us a bit more control over the product we are selling,” Hamish said, “taste is another thing altogether. It’s unreal, it’s amazing, we have so many loyal customers that swear by our milk and that’s really what makes it all worth it.” With a product that is better for the environment with sustainable packaging, the family business was looking to upgrade to better quality dairy equipment to match the growing need for efficient systems on the farm.
Before upgrading to Nevada, Liz was worried about the effluent system in place. “When I had the old system, I was always worried that an inspector would turn up or something wasn’t quite right. It was really hard to not get runoff with the old spreading system. The tanker is just a game changer. There is no stress, you spread it when the conditions are right. You get all over the farm, and no stress,” Liz said.
Environmental regulations were increasing and due to living in a high rainfall area, equipment failure and runoff were a major concern. “I had a stationery rain gun, which was suitable for the contour, good for getting on hillsides, but just not that efficient and a constant worry that something had gone wrong with it,” Liz said. Alongside the stationery rain gun, Liz previously was using a basic pond stirrer that operated in the middle of the pond that was difficult to access. Liz noted, “There was probably a metre of sediment that sat at the bottom of the pond, which was impacting the capacity of the pond.”
Liz decided to invest in more efficiency and less mess by upgrading to a Nevada electric shore mounted stirrer. With simple install and easy maintenance, the stirrer is now able to keep sediment from building up on the bottom of the pond. “Several features with the stirrer really appealed to me. The fact that the electric stirrer is shore mounted, but you can literally alter the angle of it and the depth into the pond with one hand on a pulley system,” Liz said.
While initially Liz was looking to just upgrade to an electric pond stirrer, it was the pamphlet left on the table that helped her notice how much value a slurry tanker could bring to the farm. With the previous effluent management system, Liz was only able to spread effluent around the 40 hectares near the cow shed. By upgrading to Nevada, she is now able to spread effluent to 90% of the farm.“I haven’t actually brought any fertiliser in for a year now. And I honestly don’t think I will be,” Liz said. The pasture looks healthier and greener with the utilisation of effluent that was already available on the farm, which saves the farm over $20,000 in costs for fertiliser a year.
“Prior to putting in the Nevada stirrer and effluent tanker, it was just an absolute nightmare on a daily basis,” Liz remarked. When it came to making the decision about the tanker, Liz chose the Nevada 12,800L Single Axle Slurry Tanker. “The RainWave™ at the back is awesome, even spreading, good droplet size, no runoff,” Liz said.
The main appealing feature of the slurry tanker is the minimal load time with three minutes to load nearly 13,000 litres and three minutes to empty. “It doesn’t get much better than that,” Liz noted. Drive up to the filling station, drop the auto-fill arm and fill up all from the tractor seat.
Liz’s main concern before upgrading was about operating the tanker on her own, but Nevada’s slurry tanker makes the process is easy. “I’m not a tractor person by choice, but if I can use it, anybody can use it. It’s super easy,” Liz said.
Hamish says their milk is the best A2 milk in New Zealand and with the help of an electric stirrer and slurry tanker that has eased daily effluent management processes, the family can focus on delivering great products to customers around the Bay of Plenty. “If anybody is looking at a new stirrer or a tanker, Nevada’s been great. They are great. The product is exceptionally well made and very easy to use. And the backup from the team at Nevada is great,” Liz said.
As Liz points out, “It’s been an absolute game changer. Just removed all the stress from the effluent system.”