Grant Sherborne has never been a farmer to let the grass grow under his feet. But he is now – since buying a SIP Orion 100TH Pro universal manure spreader.
The Sherborne family’s dairy farm goes back three generations, with around 300 Holstein Friesians being milked every day in scenic Burrawang, NSW.
They use 121 hectares (300 acres) for milking and 81ha (200 acres) for dry stock and heifers. The cows graze on rye grass, which is very high in nutrition and boosts the quality of the milk.
Grant spreads locally produced turkey manure to promote healthy and lush grass, with some occasional dry cow manure as well. In the past, he used a professional contractor for his manure spreading.
“When you use a spreading contractor, it’s difficult to control the timing,” Grant said. “It’s very weather dependent so you can’t book a time until you know the ground is dry enough. Then, everybody else has the same idea, so you end up with a stockpile!
“I had 600 cubic metres just waiting to be spread at one point. I also need to rotate the cattle to a different field for the withholding period to avoid any contamination from the manure, so the more control I can have, the better.”
Grant bought a SIP Orion 100TH Pro manure spreader for professional agricultural use. Inlon Pty Ltd supplied the spreader and Ian Smith from Southern Highlands Truck & Tractors set it up.
“I had been looking at a cheaper machine but it seemed very basic. I could tell the SIP was professionally built with lots of extra features,” Grant said. “It has an extension to accommodate 15 cubic metres of manure, which makes it great value because of the time I can save. It also has a wide spreading capacity, up to 24 metres in total, and it’s easy to adjust.
“We have steep country around us, so I use a 145hp tractor to tow it. I like that the Orion 100TH Pro has hydraulic brakes, a PTO drive on the spinners, and a hydraulic floor rather than a straight hydraulic drive. Also, the slurry metering door and beaters mean it can spread a nice even mix of bedding material and straw. More basic spreaders would block up if you tried to do that. We can use it on the road because it has lights and indicators, which is another benefit.
“The control I have now over the manure spreading and grazing management is excellent,” Grant said. “The SIP Orion travels well and is a quality machine.”
SIP is renowned for providing a quality range of hay and silage machines, including mowers, tedders and rakes.
For further information, please contact Inlon on (02) 4389 1477 or mail@inlon.com.au.
