Comfortable and Happy Cows at Normandy Land
Waharoa, Waikato
Situated in Waharoa, just outside of Matamata, Normandy Land is a cow farm that needed new feedpad matting to ensure the cows’ comfortability.
PJ Williams, the farm manager, knew that they needed new matting for their feedpad, an area where they put cows to feed them and keep them from turning their pastures to mud when it gets wet. PJ had several criteria for this matting, stating, “we were trying to achieve a long lasting product that had high quality, and also something that was going to be good for the cows.”
PJ wanted to ensure that the cows would be comfortable and could stay on the feedpad for longer than they could on concrete. He also emphasised that he was of course looking for quality and reliability, for a product that would last well into the future and not have to be replaced.
“The cows absolutely love it."
Having looked at other products, PJ was struck by their lesser quality and “how they varied and bubbled, and didn’t stay straight with wear and tear.” He and his colleagues then came across Numat and, with the help of Numat’s team and expertise, they settled on the rubber Kura product, because of its strength and durability.
PJ says that they realised instantly that they had made the right decision to go with Numat. They appreciated the ease with which the rubber matting was cut and laid, and thought “the precision of the jigsaw cuts and how they all interlinked was all just A1.”
The most important critics, however, were the cows, and PJ confirms that “the cows absolutely love it.” The cows’ welfare was of the utmost concern for the team at Normandy Land, and they are all now satisfied that they have provided the right environment for the animals, with PJ summing it up: “We can have our cows in here for long periods of time through the winter, no wear and tear on joints, no sore feet, no slipping.”
