The Rural Voice, 2001-04, Page 24Vanden Heuvel
Structures Ltd.
COMMERCIAL AND
AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS
_40 Wellington St., Clinton, ON NOM 1L0
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20 THE RURAL VOICE
The barn provides a light, airy
atmosphere for both cows and their
caretakers.
special attention with their rations.
Over the years there have been
lots of people coming to visit the
barn and look at the option of a less
expensive building. Currently Steve
has curtailed visits due to biosecurity
concerns.0
Taking a
different route
When it comes to innovators, few
were as brave as Herman and
Johanna Ramaker of Clinton. They
took the chance on building a
greenhouse barn before any of the
experts gave much credence to the
idea.
Back in 1994, long before other
soft -top barns in the area, they
decided to build a 20 by 108 -foot
greenhouse on the south side of their
traditional bank barn to house dry
cows and heifers. Herman had read
about greenhouse barns in the U.S.
and had friends in the greenhouse
business so decided to give the idea a
try. The whole building cost just
$6,000. It solved the problem of large
door openings on the south wall of
the stable which allowed too many
drafts into the barn.
In fact, it solved the problem too
well, Herman reveals. On sunny
winter days the clear plastic roof
would allow the barn to become too
warm, yet at night the temperature
would plunge.
The other detraction was that the