Our First Farm Visits Last Week



Just a little of the green grass that the cows eat!

Dairy cows riding on the 50 cow carousel to get milked

We have visited two farms so far here in New Zealand, a dairy farm and a sheep farm.  The dairy farm was the university dairy farm here at Lincoln University where we are staying.  The dairy farm has 630 cows.  It had a milking shed with a carousel that holds 50 cows at a time and spins in a slow circle while they are being milked.  It takes 1 person just 2 hours to milk 630 cows!  They only feed the cows grass.  The grass is grown under irrigation in paddocks and the cows move to the different paddocks each day to eat the grass.  The farm was 160 hectares or about 400 acres.  They also study how dairy cows affect the environment at this farm and how the types of plants that cows eat can change the nutrients in their manure.

A cow getting on the carousel to be milked

We also visited Ashley Dene, the Lincoln University sheep farm.  I found a sheep bone in the paddock while the students were listening to the farm manager talk.  Miranda found a huge pine cone.  They don’t have any irrigation at this farm so the soil is very dry and stony.  They raise Coopworth sheep here.  Lincoln University created this breed of sheep over 50 years ago.  Miranda and I found a huge burn pile and went over the check it out.  I found sticks with pinecones on them and showed them to my sister.  I was able to get three of them off but the rest wouldn’t budge.  Then my mom told me and Miranda it was time to get on the bus and off we went.


My mom's students listening to the sheep farm manager talk