“We’ve got farmers who’ve been with us nearly that whole time,” Mr Halliwell said.
“They just keep coming back. They like the product. It keeps the calves clean, disease-free and out of the damp.”
Mr Halliwell runs nine trucks and his business Tatura Pine Shavings and Sawdust has more than 500 customers — and about 300 of them are dairy farmers.
The business sources shavings, sawdust, wood chips and post peelings from 10 different sawmills across Victoria, South Australia and NSW.
“A lot of the shavings go to calf bedding but we also do a lot of the horse studs and racing stables around here,” Mr Halliwell said.
“People like how well the product drains, and it’s pretty nice to sleep on.”
Pine shavings have a reputation for being able to provide warmth and effective drainage for livestock while also being easy to muck out and producing less dust than other alternatives.
The business trucks orders as far as Bendigo, Seymour, Albury and Whittlesea.
“This time of the year we are flat out because of the calving,” Mr Halliwell said.
“We deliver to farms and put it out the front for them. A lot still buy our product through the agricultural stores too, as bulka bags and wool packs.”
In an average year Tatura Pine Shavings and Sawdust delivers 80,000 cubic meters of product to customers.
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