The Rural Voice, 1993-06, Page 24New from the ground up
Ethel family start from scratch in designing state-of-the-art dairy farm
By Bonnie Gropp
AccnLury and a hall after western Ontario was settled,
few people have the opportunity to design a
farmstead from scratch. For Bill and Margaret Van
Nes, however, that opportunity was recently realized when
they moved into their new house and state-of-the-art dairy
barn near Ethel in northern Huron County.
The dairy barn the Van Nes family had been using just
down the road was overcrowded and the couple realized
they were going to have to expand. Adding impetus to
expand was the fact their three sons were finishing school
and were coming home to work on the farm. The family
decided to build a completely new structure.
Mrs. Van Nes says they a good deal of time looking at
various operations as far away as New York and California,
looking for the latest in ideas to increase efficiency. After
seeing what the most up-to-date operators had to offer, they
spent a year planning their own building.
The barn is a naturally ventilated, open -concept
structure, built on concrete. Mrs. Van Nes explains that
turkey curtain is used on the walls so the sides can come
down in summer. The plastic material is strong enough to
keep the wind out in winter, yet allows for plenty of fresh
air in the warm season.
The barn is designed for drive-through feeding with a
mixer wagon, enabling the cattle to he fed a complete
ration.
Separate from the holding barn is another barn that
houses the milking parlour, milkhouse, utility rooms and
A drive-through feeding area allows feeding chores to run
smoothly for the large Van Nes herd. The milking parlour
(right) allows 40 head to be milked at once. The family
toured barns as far away as California for ideas.
20 THE RURAL VOICE