Chudleigh Farm Description
Chudleigh is a 333ha (effective) fully irrigated dairy farm located at Westerfield, Ashburton, and is milking approximately 1,300 cows through an 80 bail rotary cowshed.
Accommodation includes 2 x 2 bedroom units, a 3 bedroom brick home and a 1970's style 4 bedroom home that has recently been re-carpeted.
The farm has 3 different types of irrigation, 2 centre pivots which cover 240ha, 1 rotorainer which covers 53 ha and K-Lines which are in the corners of the pivots. Water is sourced from both wells and the Rangitata Diversion Race (RDR). A dam was built to collect the water and from here is surface pumped at 170lt/sec to the irrigators. This enables a 10 day return for the K-Lines and Rotorainers applying 50ml. The speed of the pivots is adjustable but water approximately 15ml every 3 days.
The soil type is Lismore stoney silt loam. The farm was totally regrassed with permanent Rye and Clover mixes. All the paddocks are subdivided into approximately 11 ha's which allows for a simple 28 day rotation for each herd through mid lactation.
The cows are milked through an 80 bail rotary with a separate covered area for AB and lame cow treatments. Milking times in the summer are approximately 3 hours in the morning and 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon. The shed requires 4 people during milking, two at cups on, one at cups off and one fetching the herds. The yard is flood washed into an effluent pond at the end of the shed which is then pumped out onto the farm carried by the irrigation system.
The herd is a mixture of Fresians and Cross-breds. AB is carried out for approximately 5 weeks and 300 heifer calves are reared each year.
