Town Supply Farm’s New Milking Shed

Press, Volume C, Issue 29620, 16 September 1961, Page 6

Town Supply Farm’s New Milking Shed

IN -the eight months that he has been using his new milking shed —a modification of the herringbone design—Mr R. D. Minson, a town milk supply farmer of Tai Tapu, has been taking an average of 45 seconds to milk each cow in his herd. He milks the 43 cows that he is handling at the moment in "about half an hour. Including about half winter milkers, these are averaging more than four gallons a day at present. The design of the shed is based on North Island plans and sheds at Orari and in the Springston district. It is basically of concrete block construction, with the blocks plastered over, and there is a smooth glass finish up to 4ft 6in to facilitate cleaning.

There is a spacious milk room 16ft Bin by 18ft with an lift stud which has been planned to take bulk tanks when tanker collections are introduced.

The milking area itself is about 27ft long with a 24ft long pit sunk 2ft 61n deep for 24ft along the centre. There is room along each side of the pit for seven cows and to hold cows of all sizes tight, Mr Minson has preferred a straight rail to the herringbone type rail. Mr Minson does 90 per cent, of the work in the pit through

the back legs of the cows. He finds that using this ap- ! proach the cows do not kick ‘ the cups off. Warm water * from the cooler is available b along the pit for udder washing. y Although only seven cows are held along each side there 1 are nine machines. While the cows along one side are being - milked the spare machines may be used to start two of p the harder milkers along the other side. Fluorescent lighting casting no shadows has t been found a very great aid in this area. Down a 12ft ramp, the shed opens out into the yard with - its customary galvanised pipe rails. Cows enter the yards through a footbath 'and on the way out they pass a gate through which they can be diverted, if necessary, into a four-cow capacity pen for veterinary or artificial breeding purposes. The milk store, the milking shed, including the pit, and the yard all slope down toward a race which carries manure and water away to a 1000-gallon concrete tank sunk into the ground. About every two days this is pumped out into a 450-gallon trailer tank and the manure is spread out over the farm. Mr Minson says that the 1000gallon tank can be emptied and the manure spread in

only about 15 minutes. It is estimated that about 500 tons will be handled a year in this way. Water from a well is pumped through the cooler into a 600-gallon tank for use in maintaining two concrete water troughs and the footbath and in cleaning out the yards and shed. The shed was built by contractors, Messrs Stewart and Morten, of Tai Tapu, in about two and a half months. The cost of the building is put down at about £l7OO. If he was building the shed again, Mr Minson would include one modification. The bail is not quite stoopless. The pit could be deeper than it is.