Future-ready farming: GEA's role in Woldwide Dairy Group’s milking success.
With a production output of 2.5 million kg of milk solids (KgMS) Abe de Wolde is dedicated to growing healthy youngstock, optimising cow efficiency and increasing production per feed input. Looking ahead, Abe says their commitment to improving efficiencies and increasing per cow production will also have a positive environmental impact. And GEA is set to play a pivotal role in this journey.
Abe got his start in dairy farming on his family’s small 24-hectare farm near Meppel in the Netherlands, which had been in his family since 1492. Knowing the land would eventually get consumed by the city, Abe and his wife Anita saw this as an opportunity for a fresh start in New Zealand.
Today, the couple manage 4,500 Holstein Friesian cows at peak across five farms in Central Southland, totalling 2,570 hectares. They’ve built an impressive dairy farming operation known as ‘Woldwide Dairy Group’. Harvesting a total of 2.5 million kgMS, Abe is dedicated to producing efficient cows and growing healthy youngstock. Keeping everything in-house, Abe’s goal is to convert 10kgs of dry matter into 1 kgMS.
“We want our cows to be efficient and that sounds really simple, but there’s a whole heap of stuff that you have to do to make that happen,” says Abe.
The first farm, Woldwide 1, was established in 1992. On this farm, they milk 720 cows across 214 hectares (effective) with a free-stall wintering barn. In 2022, Abe made the decision to upgrade the original 36-bail rotary to GEA’s DairyRotor T8500 Rotary. Abe chose to go with the GEA 54-bail rotary based on positive experience with his other GEA milking systems and the good track record with the local Dealer Nind Dairy Services.
The original plan was to build this shed in the winter, however due to delays in permits from Covid-19 restrictions, the build didn’t start until September. Despite the challenging deadline, all parties collaborated well to get the project completed in just four weeks.
“GEA, Nind Dairy Services, and our builder pulled together, and it was a tightly orchestrated thing. It was quite an achievement to build the whole thing in four weeks.”
The new platform includes a double beam with nylon rollers, automatic cup removers, on-platform automatic teat sprayers and automatic wash system. When designing the dairy shed, cow comfort was top of mind for Abe.
“Our cows are bigger than average, so we want them to be able to stand comfortably on the platform.”
Abe notes that the bail design and dimensions have been a big factor in making sure the cows are comfortable, along with how quiet the milking system is due to the double beam nylon roller system.
“We only had four weeks without a milking shed. Our cows had to transition from the old one to the new one and straight away they just jumped on it and felt right at ease.”
Since the on-platform automatic teat sprayers have been in use, Abe has seen a significant difference in somatic cell count (SCC) between Woldwide 1 and the other farms. Noting that Woldwide 2,3,4 and 5 have an average SCC of between 100-120,000, whereas Woldwide 1 sits much lower at 70,000. Abe mentions the teat spray units have been pivotal in achieving this.
To help save on labour and product wastage, Abe also installed an automatic wash system. He notes that with the new shed they have had no grades, which is quite the achievement. “There are a few benefits to it. It saves labour costs, and it avoids botch ups,” says Abe. “You always have the right dosing, but there's also a safety element as well, your staff don't have to handle the chemicals. It's safer and more efficient and it's safer for milk quality as well.”
Not only is the plant great for the cows, but the milkers also enjoy milking through this shed. For Abe, having a good milking system is key to hiring the right staff. “If you don't have a good shed, it's hard to get good contract milkers. And it's been pivotal for the staff that we've been able to secure for that farm,” says Abe.
With the new T8500 rotary, the number of milkers required can be reduced to just one.
“Over the spring when you have new heifers, you need two people in the shed but when it settles down one person can easily milk.”
Not only is Abe saving a labour unit in the shed during certain times of the season, but the milking time has also been cut down. As they are a high-producing farming operation, this is seen as a significant gain by Abe. “The cows individually - and the farm as a whole - produces more now than what it used to do with the old shed because of all those contributing factors.” The total production for Woldwide 1 on average is 410,000 kgMS.
Looking ahead, Abe believes more farms will start to adopt a similar hybrid-style operation between European and New Zealand techniques to create highly efficient farms. Built for pasture-based systems with an automation upgrade pathway, the T8500 is a reliable rotary system for farmers throughout New Zealand and around the world.
For Abe, his main goal is to continue improving efficiency and increase production output per feed input. He believes GEA and the DairyRotor T8500 will be pivotal in that journey. “For starters, it's got a comfortable platform. You want your cows to feel at ease. And I think it's got the technology to make it happen. It's got the integration options going into the future as well. I could see us on a journey with GEA just making it happen and helping each other along the way there,” concludes Abe.
Watch Abe de Wolde's story:
