Rodney and Dorothy Elliott Lake Norden, South Dakota, USA Drumgoon Dairy Rodney and Dorothy Elliott Lake Norden, South Dakota, USA

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!

Reasons to RELOCATE Northern Ireland South Dakota 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 Land prices, £1200 -£1500 an acre Labour – easy to recruit Free trade Legislation Permitting Animal health Labour

Location

South Dakota Vs. Northern Ireland

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)

Cross Ventilated barn 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.

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

Embracing Change 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

Pitfalls

Drumgoon Dairy Rodney and Dorothy Elliott 19048 US Hwy 81 Lake Norden, SD 57248 1 605 785 2151 drumgoon@itctel.com