Long standing farm building supplier Redpath Pacific Ltd have been steadily developing their soft floor litter systems with a strong input from dairy farmers and industry consultants. Glen Williams from the company comments “The soft floor system benefits are clearly obvious and are pretty basic in that a soft (deep litter) floor option offers dairy cows a comfortable and warm place to rest + they can rest or stand for much longer periods of time compared to a hard surface which can be tough on the cows joints, feet and udders” The company says that they have seen a resurgence in the need for dairy cow shelters and wintering barns systems in New Zealand and also from their Australia plant, which seems to be being driven by a number of factors” “Firstly we are seeing our clear roofed shelter option being driven by the environmental benefits like simply being able to eliminate 99% of the rainfall washing effect from the standoff area.
Secondly the deep litter system that we have been developing is designed to act a bit like a large sponge and will retain a great proportion of effluent that’s dropped inside the shelter. The type of litter and how it is managed and drained has quite an effect on how long the litter will last and how effective it will be. “We are seeing deep litter systems easily lasting 18 months on many farms – and this makes the choice of using a soft floor system become a very cost effective option”
“Another key to the floor system working well is the roofing material used over the shelter itself Glen says” Redpath have found that their investment in the latest Durashelter roofing membrane which is sourced from a high quality European extruder in Belgium has a dramatic effect on the soft floor litter and how speedily it is dried and also how disease free it can be kept. “We are seeing a big difference when using the Durashelter in that this roof cladding allows a high level of IR light radiation through to the flooring which acts as a very effective sterilisation tool for the litter keeping the top crust dry and resulting in reduced bacteria counts it seems”
“Farmers have been telling us that a dry floor is a healthy floor with the cows standing up after resting and not having mud and effluent clinging to them is really important –and the light coming through the roof is a big part of this”.
The Durashelter cladding is almost 30% thicker than what was once used on their building range the company says and is the thickest extruded clear polythene cladding by far in the industry. “The other main benefit of this cladding choice is the much longer service life it offers, and this can easily be ten years or more in all regions of New Zealand including the tougher areas of Southland, Taranaki and the Far North where wind loads on the roofing are far greater”
The deep litter material can be either purchased in or produced on farm, Typically the latter is often half the cost of buying woodchip or post peelings in from a supplier Glen says and makes this floor system a viable option. “Many farms still have enough trees on site to be able to chip and cut directly to the shelter floor – and we have a number of contacts nationwide with contractors who have large chipping machinery that can offer this service on the farm at very competitive prices” he says.
The flooring is usually a woodchip base, but the company says it has seen a combination of chips + bark and also untanilised sawdust or recycled plyboard being used as a 100% layer or as a combined mix. “Aeration of the deep litter is important and this requires a change to some farm management practices – however it is straightforward work and only requires basic machinery to do”. Glen adds, “We have specifically designed our feedpad shelters so that they do not have any low overhead horizontal chords spanning across from pole to pole and this means that quite large tractors and machinery can be used within the Redpath shelter system without the fear of damaging the building frame” Redpath also say that this feature reduces the perching points for birds and other pests which again has an effect on disease and weed control inside the shelters.
Further benefits of the soft floor system is the it suits a “free range” style of indoor housing which allows the cows to move around in a large open space rather than have them secured in a single space. “We have spent a great deal of time with farmers establishing an ideal density rate to run the cows inside our shelters and this seems to be affected by a few things. The size and age of the cows being held, the amount of time that the cows will be kept indoors, the type of litter being used and the amount of cows to be housed / fed / managed at any one time. All of these things plus the location of the shelter in New Zealand will dictate the sq/m space required per cow. “As a rule of thumb we are finding that different farms have different needs and those that are only holding cows in the shelter briefly after milking can run as dense as 4-5 sq/m per cow. Other farms though that are wanting to hold the cows in doors for many days at a time (or sometimes weeks) when the weather is very poor or paddocks are at high risk from pugging may consider 6sq/m per cow or more”. The company says that the drainage design beneath the litter will also be dictated by cow density – although they have many shelters throughout the country with 400 + cow herds held within them that produce less run-off than 200litres a day they say.
“Its quite surprising how much of the effluent is simply evaporated off by the clear Durashelter roofing and how little gets through to the floor drains beneath. Most of the solids are absorbed into the litter system and after a period of 12-18 months the litter can be distributed onto the farm in drier conditions as friable humus that is rich in fertiliser”
We offer various guidelines for drainage systems – and we having been working with local councils to establish good guidelines on what’s required. Typically though the company is very surprised on how little effluent is actually coming out of the covered systems with their clear roofs. “We have two research institutes working on setting up some trial areas – so that we can offer hard facts in this area and we hope to be able to give farmers and local councils this information as soon as possible”
The free range concept and deep litter flooring of the companies shelters is also in good keeping with many of the animal rights issues that have been recently raised. “ We have had a very positive feedback from people that are concerned about intensive animal farming - as we are able to quickly explain and show that there is plenty of space for the cows to move around and herd in a large clear open plan format, - often the shelter has no side or ends and the cows can come and go as they please to water troughs and feed bins placed outside or inside the shelters” “we are really please to be able to offer a shelter system that keeps the sun on the back of the cows and offers an almost natural living environment , the housing therefore is particularly comfortable for the cows when weather conditions are very poor and the wind chill factor is high (in areas like southland). The clear Durashelter sheeting can provide up to a 10 degree lift of air temperature in the covered area, and this has a dramatic effect on the cows ability to maintain condition in cooler months and the amount of feed required to keep this condition. “Many farmers have advised us that they are saving up to 40% in their feed and supplement cost as the cows simply consume a lot less when in the shelter – they also say that feed losses are less than 1% - which can represent substantial savings over a period of time”
Keeping the cows off the paddock when conditions are poor has the obvious benefit of saving valuable grass from being pugged or compacted as well. Considering the above and the fact that the shelters themselves can be constructed over existing or new feedpads for as little as $300+ GST per cow the company is hoping that interest in their systems will continue to grow. If you want further information on the Redpath sheltered feedpad system with deep litter floor they can be contacted on Free Ph 0508 733 728 or by visiting www.standoffshelters.co.nz
