Highest-tech cowshed in the region unveiled

Outside it looks like a space station. Inside it is possibly the most technically advanced cowshed in the lower North Island.
And with a $1.2 million price tag, it's no mean investment by the shareholders of Macland Farms, which owns the 420ha property at Onoke, South Wairarapa, where the shed has been built.
Macland Farms chairman Vern Brasell said shareholders decided to build the state-of-the-art cowshed - which is 20m wide x 25m long x 7m high ? to accommodate increasing cow numbers.
The previous cowshed on the property was a 40-aside herringbone and sharemilkers Gareth and Leanne Sweeney used to take 3.5 to 4 hours to milk 700 cows.
In the new shed, which has a 60 bail rotary platform, they milk 810 cows at a rate of around 400 cows per hour.
Mr Brasell said shareholders had invested heavily in new technology such as the IntelScan Plus advanced pulsation control system (which is 15 per cent faster than a conventional pulsation system), electronic identification and drafting, and automatic cup removers to "future proof" themselves.
He said that although the capital outlay was significant, shareholders expected to achieve efficiencies in two primary areas ? labour and energy.
The speed of the milking plant has already enabled them to save a labour unit since it now requires two people to oversee the milking instead of three.
They also expect to see energy efficiencies follow from the newly installed Mahana Blue heat recovery system, which uses heat recovered from the milk refrigeration process to heat the water necessary for cleaning down the yard.
Meanwhile the up-to-the-minute water cannon system uses half the volume of water of a floodwater system and takes less than half the time of a conventional yard hose-down.
The Onoke cowshed - which is built of ribbed steel - was imported as a kitset from Canada by Future Steel Buildings Ltd.
With its domed roof and gleaming metallic surfaces, it looks like it belongs on the moon and NASA apparently uses similar edifices.
Outside the shed, two large, globe-shaped milk vats point towards the sky.
These are cooled by chilled water instead of the traditional means of refrigerated gases and a freezer pad. As well as being environmentally friendly, they are a prototype, being the only 27,000-litre milk vat of their type in New Zealand.
Fonterra Chief Executive Andrew Ferrier and Chairman of the Fonterra Shareholders Council John Monaghan were on hand yesterday afternoon to officially launch the new shed.
After smashing a metaphorical jug of milk to declare the shed open, Mr Ferrier congratulated the Macland Farms shareholders on their foresight and investment in the industry.
He said that outside of robotic milking, "this shed is the highest-tech one I've seen".