Day 15

 

Milking dairy cows in the parlor
Cows being milked at the dairy.

Today was our last day in New Zealand. We started our morning by going to Align Farms. Align Farms is an award-winning dairy located between two rivers in Mid-Canterbury. Align Farms Hasten-farms located in the South Island. The Mid-Canterbury site that we visited was 290 hectares and had around 5,000 cows. The farm is split into two 148 hectares groups. One of the groups is farmed conventionally while the other group is farmed in a regenerative manner. We were given a tour of the property. Our tour guide’s name was Rhys Roberts. On the tour of the Align farm we were taken to a small garden, a couple of pastures, and the milking barn. At the garden we got an overview of what produce they grow. They grow tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, and more. At the pastures we were shown the differences of a grazed pasture vs a non-grazed pasture. As well as we got to examine the soil in two of the pastures that we visited. At the milking barn we got to see how the dairy milked the cows and how the whole system worked. Once we finished the tour of the farm we headed to Christchurch for our flight. Before our flight we stopped at a mall called The Hub for lunch and shopping. After our lunch shopping trip, we headed to the airport to catch our flights back home.

Align Farm landscape
Align Farm landscape

 





Air view of sunset over South Island

Airplane window view of the sunset over the tip of the South Island.




Injecting antibiotics into cows' teats

Farm employees are injecting antibiotics and sealer to the teats to ensure the cows have good udder health over their dry period.

Vegetable patch with a Mountain View in the background.

Vegetable patch that they use to feed their 60-person team; with a Mountain View in the background



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