Now in its third year, SMASH, supported by DairyNZ, is preparing for its 2013 events, some during February and March in Cambridge and Morrinsville.
SMASH chairman Noldy Rust says the days will be informative for dairy farmers; the first, on February 12 in Cambridge, will look at how to produce and save energy on-farm.
“All farmers are conscious of how energy costs take significant dollars from their bottom line, but not all know how to set up their dairy to be energy efficient, neither whether the different energy generation technologies are worthwhile.”
Guest speakers will discuss energy production and how to make dairy sheds more efficient.
NIWA’s Stephan Heubeck will speak on energy generation (including solar, wind and microhydro) and NIWA research into generating energy from effluent.
Jim Miller, an energy consultant to Fonterra, will talk about how energy is used in the dairy shed and how farmers can make operational changes to save energy.
Suppliers of energy generation systems will attend the event.
The second event, on February 21, at Morrinsville, will address pasture persistence.
“Brian and Bridget Frost’s farm was converted to tall fescue to deal with persistence issues, something many farmers struggle with, as pastures don’t survive more than a year or two. The Frosts will share what they have learnt,” says Rust.
DairyNZ senior scientist Errol Thom and farm systems specialist Chris Glassey will also talk about how to establish persistent pastures and how tall fescue can fit into existing systems.
The final SMASH event, on March 5, will be held on John Fisher’s farm in Cambridge.
“We’ll look at his robotic milking machine set-up and see this exciting technology in action,” says Rust. “John will also share why they decided robotics was for them, how the farm has been set up to work with it and the lessons learnt so far.”
Although the events are designed for farmers with smaller operations, all are welcome to attend.
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