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26 THE RURAL VOICE
used in dairy farming that must be
accommodated in storage, even
though a lot of water is recycled in
the barn.
Construction started in June and
from then until November 10, when
work finished, it was "an incredible
summer".
"We've never had so much traffic
on the lane," Bert says, estimating
that all the heavy trucks lowered the
level of the lane by four inches. The
traffic created dust in a fairly dry
summer and with workers in the yard
at all times there was a lack of
privacy. Still they have high praise
for all the contractors and subtrades
involved.
The transition was smooth
because they were able to continue
their operations in the old barn as the
new one rose. Come moving day,
they justmoved the cattle across the
yard.
The parlour supplier provided
plenty of help to train the cows
for a parlour system with nine
people at the first milking. The
problems weren't with the first
milking when the cattle didn't know
what to expect so much as the next
few milkings when they had an idea
what to expect.
"Cows thrive on monotony," Bert
says. "They're happy when you don't
change their feed and don't change
their routine."
Still, the cattle didn't take too long
adjusting. Bert jokes that it took him
longer than the cows. "The
adjustment from stalls to freestall
was very hard for a few days," he
says, recalling the new routine kept
him constantly on his toes to know
what to do next.
The new barn was built with extra
capacity for future growth, though
Bert quickly adds he's not someone
who dreams of having 200 cows
someday. Today there are 60 cows
plus dry cows and heifers.
Milking is in a double -eight,
herringbone parlour. Bert says it
makes the routine work so much
more pleasurable.
They still make use of the tower
silos at the old barn nearby which
now houses younger stock and calves
(the barn's in good shape and has
years of use, Bert says). Silage and
haylage are put in a gas -powered
feed and run over to the new barn a
few feet away. Some grains and