The Rural Voice, 2001-04, Page 22I
INNOVATION
REPORT
CARD
Stories and photos by
Keith Roulston
While most people like to follow the road worn smooth by many
previous travellers, some adventurous souls prefer to break a new
path, We revisit four farm families who chose the less -travelled path
and see how their experiments have made out
Top results
achieved in fabric -
covered barn
Anyone who wonders about a
farmer's ability to have a first
class dairy operation in a
fabric -covered barn need only talk to
Steve Dolson and Karen Galbraith.
Not only are they happy with their
barn, but so must be their cows,
which now achieve a BCA of 255, up
from about 190 when they moved
them into the barn in January 1999.
In that time they've moved to
three -times -a -day milking. Generally
that will bring a 10-15 per cent
improvement but Steve feels it's been
18 THE RURAL VOICE
The innovative families include: (clockwise from top left) Steve Dolson and
Karen Galbraith, seen in their fabric -covered barn in 1999); Jack and Marg
Kroes in their straw -based finishing barn; Herman and Joanna Ramaker with
their greenhouse barn and Dave Linton (whose wife Brenda wasn't present)
in their group -housing sow barn.
better than that because the best cows
in the herd have the ability to
produce much more with three -times
milking.
The biggest problem encountered
this winter is one most dairy farmers
are experiencing after the 2000 crop
year: lack of good quality forages.
While fabric -covered buildings
have become popular for everything
from feed storage to livestock, the
Dolsons were the first in western
Ontario to put their entire dairy
operation under the big top. They
have two shelters, a 62 -by -160 -foot
barn and a 40 -by -60 -foot milking
parlour and milk house.
The milk house has one insulated,
metal -clad wall on the end of the
building. The floor in the milking
parlour is heated and a ceiling helps
keep heat in while providing a
storage loft for hay and straw for box
stalls in the maternity area.
The barn has 70 free stalls and 12
ties stalls where cows generally go
after calving or where they can keep
cows that aren't doing well and need