Monday, 24 April 2023

Keeping research local for you: Our data is your data

    1. Rural life
    2. Rural Life Supplied Content

    Located close to Invercargill, the Southern Dairy Hub (SDH) was established in 2017 as a research farm. 

    SDH is the largest farm of its type in New Zealand and one of the bigger ones internationally - something the whole region can be proud of.  

    The Southern Dairy Hub’s 349-hectare facility is jointly invested in by southern farmers and businesses through the Southern Dairy Development Trust, AgResearch and DairyNZ.

    A cow from the fodder beet herd at Southern Dairy Hub joined in at a field day in Wallacetown...
    A cow from the fodder beet herd at Southern Dairy Hub joined in at a field day in Wallacetown last year.
     It operates as a commercial dairy farm as well as a site for important research that creates great information for farmers to help them make decisions about their environmental footprint, profitability and optimising animal performance. It’s targeted at the very specific regional challenges local farmers face because of soil types and weather conditions. 

    Inquisitive cattle . . . A cow checks out AgResearch Invermay soil scientist Ross Monaghan at a...
    Inquisitive cattle . . . A cow checks out AgResearch Invermay soil scientist Ross Monaghan at a field day last year.
    It’s thanks to the generosity of the community, sponsors, and funders that it’s able to deliver the groundbreaking research that it does.  

    With four farmlet systems of 150 to 220 cows each to allow direct comparisons, the Hub and its research team trial the performance of different crops, feeding approaches and systems, focusing on the impacts on productivity and profitability. 

    With plenty of community events, field days and educational get-togethers, the local community and farmers are at the centre of everything the Hub does. 

    Tested innovation and ideas are available for all farmers. The projects are wide-ranging, and the compelling results are shared on social media and on the SDH website, as well as by DairyNZ and AgResearch. 

    You can follow Southern Dairy Hub on Facebook, come to one of our events or visit southerndairyhub.co.nz to find out more and to freely download results that are relevant to your farm.

     

    Southern Dairy Hub

    Established: 2017
    Where: Wallacetown, Invercargill.
    Area: 332 eff ha; 300 dairy, 32 support
    Cows: 750 Fr-Crossbred cows wintered
    Cowshed: Automated 60-bail DeLaval Rotary
    People: 6 Farm, GM, Admin, 2 x DNZ Techs.
    Effluent: Weeping walls, 90 day pond, low application rate irrators
    Infrastructure: Research wing, calf sheds.

    Contact

    611 Ryal Bush-Wallacetown Road
    RD4, Southland 9874

    Administration Enquiries
    admin@southerndairyhub.co.nz

    Phone - 027 564 5595