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

2. 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!

4. 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

5. Location

7. South Dakota Vs. Northern Ireland

8. Winter in South Dakota

10. 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.

12. Feed and Crops

15. CURRENT OPERATION MILK COWS 1950 REPLACEMENTS 1750 DAILY ANNUAL
PRODUCTION 34 LITRES 10,680 LITRES
BUTTERFAT 4.01% %
PROTEIN 3.44% %
SCC
PRICE 30 PPL PPL (2011)

16. 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.

17. 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 £55,000

21. Management and Staff

22. Employee Breakdown Milkers- 14 Herdsmen- 5 Parlour Manager- 1
Feeder- 1
Operations/Maitainance-3
Manager/Owner-2
TOTAL-26

26. Innovation will feed the world

28. 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

29. Pitfalls

30. Drumgoon Dairy Rodney and Dorothy Elliott 19048 US Hwy 81
Lake Norden, SD 57248