Rodney and Dorothy Elliott

Lake Norden, South Dakota, USA

DRUMGOON DAIRY

HISTORY• 1982 – April, started milking 22 cows in a 4 point pipeline .

• 1983 – Introduction of milk quota, my farm allowance 111,000 litres but gained 6,200 litres under development.

• 1987 – started buying quota, leased more land and built a double 5 milking parlour. Now milking 45 cows.

• 1995 – we bought land and we’re milking 70 cows.

• 1999 – moved back home to Drumgoon to live, more building was required, milking 110 cows.

• 2002- I concentrated on all Dairy built a new 14 point swing parlour, and increased the herd to 140 cows milking.

• 2004 – Production reached 1 million litres of milk, went on a Dairy tour of South Dakota!

• Land prices, £1200 -£1500 an acre

• Labour – easy to recruit

• Free trade

• Legislation

• Permitting

• Animal health

• Labour

• Land prices, £7 – £10,000 an acre

• Labour– difficulty to find and retain good employees and competition from construction

• Quota

• Legislation

• Animal movement

• Manure management

• Labour

REASONS TO RELOCATE

Northern Ireland South Dakota

LOCATION

SOUTH DAKOTA VS. NORTHERN IRELAND

South Dakota

WINTER IN SOUTH DAKOTA

DEVELOPMENT OF DRUMGOON DAIRY• 2005 Purchased 153 acres for a dairy site

• February 2006 – we moved to South Dakota

• Construction started May 2006 for a 1400 cow facility.

• 2006 purchased an acreage with 40 acres of land, some farm buildings and a dwelling.

• Started milking December 2006.

• Expanded 2008 to 2000 cows.

• 2007 – 2011 continuous expansion and development of calf and heifer raising facility.

• 2009 purchased 154 acres of crop land adjacent to the Dairy.

• 2010 purchased 100 acres of cropland and another acreage.

• 2010 began renting 230 acres of land, cropland and some pasture.

FEED AND CROPS

CURRENT OPERATION• MILK COWS 1950

• REPLACEMENTS 1750

DAILY ANNUAL

• PRODUCTION 34 LITRES 10,680 LITRES

• BUTTERFAT 4.01% 3.87%

• PROTEIN 3.44% 3.52%

• SCC 196 218

• PRICE 30 PPL 28.75 PPL (2011)

Picture of inside of the barn on a working day, pushing up feed. This task is done every two hours to ensure that the cows have always feed available.

CROSS VENTILATED BARN

RELEVANT DAIRY PURCHASES

Prices in USA

• Petrol- 64p per liter

• Diesel- 66p per liter

• Electricity- 5p per Kw

• Ground Maize- £160 per ton

• Soy Bean Meal- £187 per ton

• Labour- £6.50 per hour

• Milk replacer- £52 per 25 kg

• Vet/Mechanic- £60 per hour

• 100 ml of Excnell- £41.50

• John Deere 6430- £55,000

MANAGEMENT AND STAFF

EMPLOYEE BREAKDOWN• Milkers- 14

• Herdsmen- 5

• Parlour Manager- 1

• Feeder- 1

• Operations/Maitainance-3

• Manager/Owner-2

• TOTAL-26

INNOVATION WILL FEED THE WORLD

• Learn from the past

• Accepting technology

• Combine harvester

• Milking parlour

• Computers

• Genetics

• Vaccines and drugs

• BST– carbon footprint

• Hormones

• GMO Crops

• Efficiencies

• Larger, specialized units

• Corporation

• Education

• Youth

• Consumer awareness

EMBRACING CHANGE

PITFALLS

DRUMGOON DAIRY

Rodney and Dorothy Elliott

19048 US Hwy 81

Lake Norden, SD 57248

1 605 785 2151

drumgoon@itctel.com