The Rural Voice, 2000-04, Page 33• Establish needs and goals as clearly
and precisely as possible.Choices
may favour labour efficiency, cow
comfort or low capital cost. Which is
most important to you? Knowing that
will save time and money when
you're looking for information and
later making purchases.
• Collect as much information from
as many sources as possible. Go to
open houses, attend tours, read
magazines, talk to engineers,
contractors, nutritionists,
management specialists, suppliers
and anyone who can help.
• Evaluate alternatives and be as
creative as possible. Even
alternatives that seem "off the wall",
"out front" or impossible may be
accepted technology tomorrow.
• Once the best alternative is
selected, do as much planning on
paper as possible. Discuss your plans
with the people who contribute to
your on-going operation —
employees, feed suppliers, A.I.
technicians, veterinarians, etc.
• Stake out the proposed building.
One of the best uses of baler -twine is
to stake out a building to full scale.
Often what appears to be a good fit
on paper looks much different when
staked out on the site.
n your plans you'll have to
include space for all the different
herd components you have, not
just milking cows. There will need to
be space for dry cows and heifers,
calves, maternity and treatment as
well as feed storage and manure
storage for each class.
Attaching a new freestall structure
to an old bank barn can limit future
expansion. Also, because bank barns
present a major fire risk, attaching a
new building to them is not wise,
House says.
If you're looking at a new,
detached barn, the existing buildings
should not unduly influence the
location of the new ones, House says.
It may be convenient to renovate and
connect buildings together but this
may adversely affect ventilation as
well as increasing fire hazard. As
well, since most work in a freestall
barn is done from the tractor cab,
walking distance doesn't matter but
room to turn machinery does.
An ideal site for a new livestock
barn will be higher than the
surrounding area to promote good
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APRIL 2000 29