Trioliet Solomix keeps feed flowing into winter barns

The efficient delivery of high quality animal feed is a vital part of the Zeestraten family’s unique dairying operation in Southland.

Alfons Zeestraten and wife Gea left Holland twelve years ago and established Southern Centre Dairies, a family operation that now farms 1200ha spread over four properties in Central Southland.

While they appreciated that New Zealand had many advantages when it came to pastoral farming, they had always felt that keeping cows outside during the cold southern winters was significantly limiting production. Three years ago they built the first of three winter barns which are now used to house up to 1850 cows for five to six months of the year.

The system has attracted interest from both rural and urban media, including national television news. The Zeestratens believe that cows housed in these buildings enjoy a more comfortable life than they would if wintered outside.

As well as helping to extend the lactation period, the winter barn system also means there is far less pressure on pastures and laneways during autumn, winter and spring. This means lower maintenance costs.

But one of the biggest advantages, says Alfons, is that the system gives the operation a high level of control over production through the better utilisation of feed, nutrients and animal welfare. Winter supplement is transported to the cows and fed on concrete, so wastage is minimal compared with paddock feeding.

Delivering the right ration of grass silage and minerals to the cows is a crucial part of the process and Southern Centre Dairies uses a Trioliet Solomix 3 feed mixer to achieve this.

The family bought the Solomix a year ago and are very happy with its performance. With a capacity of around 40-45 cubic metres, the Solomix is used to mix and distribute feed in all three winter barns from April to the end of September.

Mounted on tandem axles, the PTO-driven Solomix 3 has three vertical augers with patented asymmetrical inserts to aid mixing. Ruggedly constructed, it incorporates a well designed chassis with thicker steel protecting all key wear points. It also features a Shifttronic transmission – a three step gearbox that is electronically linked to the mixer wagon’s weighscale system and changes up or down according to the weight of the load.

Alfons says this makes mixing incredibly efficient. “It takes a lot of power to mix a 40 cubic metre load and this system makes sure the horsepower of the tractor is fully utilised. We tow our feed mixer with a 180hp tractor, but if the mixer didn’t have such a good gear system we would probably need a 250hp tractor.”

He says the Solomix’s ability to mix large loads thoroughly was one of the key reasons the family chose the Solomix in the first place. The Solomix’s capacity, robustness and reliability were other important factors in their decision to choose the machine over other makes.

“It does a great job of mixing and it’s very reliable. We’ve been using it for a year now and the only problem we’ve had was a punctured tyre.”

The Solomix’s massive capacity has also led to a big increase in feeding efficiency.

“Our last wagon held about 18 tonnes and we were struggling to get 12 to 13 loads done a day. With the Solomix 3 we can get everything done in three to four loads.”

During winter one operator is employed virtually full-time on feeding out, and Alfons says the fact that 1800 cows can be fed daily in a process that uses only one driver, one tractor and one feed mixer means the operation is very cost-efficient.

He says switching to the winter barn model required major capital outlay and the family had to work hard to persuade financiers to back their plans. But with production now tracking at around 600kg milksolids/cow, the changes are starting to pay off.