Kura Rubber Mats Saved His Farm
Hauraki Plains, Waikato
The wettest Waikato winter in 30 years meant Wayne had to standoff his cows on Kura matting for a solid month.
Wayne says KuraMat on his feedpads saved his farm. The wettest Waikato winter in 30 years meant he had to standoff his cows for a solid month. The result? He came through it with no cow losses, no pasture damage and no worries while others in the region without similar matting really suffered.
What prompted you to purchase the matting?
“I was at a field day. I was impressed with how it looked. Interlocked… like a jigsaw… easy to replace part of it. Pinned down with stainless steel bolts. I also liked the fact that it’s made in Germany. Most things that come out of Germany are bloody good. It’s a lot of money but it’s worth it.”
What problem were you trying to address with the matting?
“The Waikato has very high rainfall so waterlogged pastures are a big problem. You’ve got to send cows off in wet periods.”
What other solutions had you tried to solve the problem?
“We used to buy post peel (pine tree by-product from the forestry industry used to absorb urine and dung). I’ts not cheap and it leads to effluent going straight into the ground in a concentrated patch. We saw that this would soon become an environmental compliance issue. The system was also messy and inefficient. Bare concrete on feedpads just wasn’t an option.”
“Best thing I’ve ever done. It’s paid for itself this year…”
What results did you see after installing the Numat matting?
“The matting is preserving the cow’s feet. Concrete kills cow’s feet… destroys their feet. All the cows are quite happy to sit on the matting… cow’s just won’t sit down on concrete. They’re happy.”
Did the results meet your expectations?
“It saved our farm. There’s been a lot of rain this June. Seems like the wettest winter in 30 years. The farm was unbelievably waterlogged and saturated. This past spring, we stood our cows on feedpads for a month. They never went in paddocks and we’ve had no cow problems thanks to the matting.”
“Unfortunately many other farmers in the region experienced real problems with the waterlogged pastures, having to move cows around constantly and losses associated standing them on hard concrete. We haven’t had any issues.”
What do you like about the matting in particular?
“It’s very easy to clean. Each day we scrape it clean with a scraper. It’s been scraped that many times and never done any damage. From a damage point of view, it’s idiot proof. It’s guaranteed for 10 years. I think it will last forever.”
