REDPATH SOFT FLOOR WINTERING BARNS AND SHELTERS FOR DAIRY COWS
DRAINAGE SYSTEMS – VERY IMPORTANT FOR SOFT LITTER FLOORS!
The drainage system for your Redpath clear roofed dairy shelter is a very important consideration and component if using a soft floor litter material. Here are some basic guidelines to improve the service life of the litter, the cleanliness and the litter and methods of operation that help keep the floor as dry and as comfortable for the cows as possible.
LITTER CHOICE
Choosing the right type of litter to assist with good drainage will often be dictated by the most cost effective or accessible local source. Often the most cost effective method is to chip up existing tress on the farm and there are a number of mobile chipping services that can do this work for you. It is also wise to consider the planting of some tress on farm for future chipping requirements !. Large sized woodchip is a popular choice as it lasts well, is free draining and tends not to “pug-up’ too quickly.
Redpath can usually assist you with directing you to a local source of flooring material – call us on Free Ph 0508 733 728
DRAINAGE SYSTEMS:
It is best to fit an effective drainage system BEFORE you build the Redpath shelter. In our experience if you are planning to winter the cows for a long period of time or house them for more than one week at a time, then it becomes very important to drain the shelter effectively. If drains are not effective then the litter will likely “pug-up” and become compacted easily. This is best avoided as disease may occur in damp, cool and effluent intensive conditions which is not ideal.
Plastic “Nova-Coil” type drains or “field-drains” are best installed at 1.2m centers apart along the length of each span of the building. These should be encased in a round stone/pea gravel material which will allow effluent /water to drain quickly to the drain area. The drain should be located at the base of a tiered base floor and the base floor may even include a non permeable liner (Durashelter) in instances where all run- off from the shelter is required to be trapped.
Drainage should also be installed around the perimeter edge of the shelters, slightly below the raised pad area. (see drawings below)
RAISE THE BUILDING PAD
When forming the pad for the building to be built on it is popular to raise the site slightly above the surrounding ground level. This will assist in avoiding groundwater feeding into the shelter area destroying the litter and washing out the effluent in an uncontrolled manner. As an example a building sized at 27.6m x 60m , may have a raised pad of say 30m x 63m.
STIRRING THE LITTER
Regular (weekly) stirring or ripping of the litter will assist in breaking up any crusty barriers from forming (which may restrict water / urine from flowing to the drains below). Stirring the litter keeps the soft floor aerated and healthy also.
One important aspect of dairy farming is the management of effluent disposal. Many regions/countries have strict rules or guidelines regarding effluent disposal from, for example, a farm or cowshed. Many regions/countries prohibit the discharge or disposal of untreated effluent into waterways. This is to prevent waterways, and waterbodies (such as lakes) into which they run becoming polluted with untreated effluent, nitrogen (from either the effluent or fertiliser applied to paddocks), or other undesirables or waste products resultant from farming.
One common method of effluent disposal or treatment involves the use of oxidation ponds. Oxidation ponds usually involve water or other runoff containing effluent first passing through an anaerobic pond (generally relatively deep), followed by a shallower aerobic pond before finally being released into the environment, such as a waterway. Bacterial breakdown in the oxidation pond(s) generally removes or neutralises the effluent from the water.
Advantages of oxidation ponds include the fact that they have a low labour requirement and low maintenance cost, and that there is little chance for human error to cause problems. Disadvantages include the fact that useful farm nutrients may be lost through the pond system, and a resource consent may be required in many regions/countries from the local council or planning authority. Furthermore, with a trend of increasing herd sizes on dairy farms, existing ponds may not be big enough to cope (especially as ponds also collect rain water).
Additionally leakage through the bottom of the ponds can be a problem and/or ponds need to be lined with clay or plastic if soils are free draining. Other disadvantages include the fact that the water being discharged in some cases may still fail to meet pollution limit, and the cost of constructing an oxidation pond(s) can be prohibitive.
Another method of effluent disposal involves the use of effluent spreaders which can be used to spread effluent from a holding pond or tank onto pasture. Similarly, an irrigation system may be utilised to spread effluent back onto pasture. Advantages of these methods include the fact that the effluent may have higher fertiliser value and that it also decreases the reliance on ponds or ditches. Disadvantages include the cost of hiring or utilising an effluent spreader such as a slurry wagon or the cost of installing or maintaining an irrigation system. Furthermore, by spreading effluent on wet farmland, there may be a greater risk of runoff of the untreated effluent into waterways. Moreover, during a wet season or time, the spreading of (wet) effluent onto already wet farmlands may lead to pugging and/or compaction damage to pasture.
Unrelated to effluent disposal, pugging and compaction damage can occur when the soil is so soft and/or wet that the weight of grazing animals or use of farm vehicles and machinery,
cannot be supported by the soil’s surface. This can result in poor drainage, namely where the soil will remain soft and wet, and hence the animals will cause ongoing damage at subsequent grazings. Pugging and compaction damage can also result in reduced pasture utilisation (by say 20% to 40%) as well as a reduction in future pasture yield, depending upon the soil type.
Pugging also allows weeds and poor species of grasses to become established. Moreover, pugging and compaction damage requires more tractor passes for seed bed preparation and sowing and greater fertiliser and topsoil requirements. However, it may not always be possible to add the necessary increased fertiliser requirement due to some region’s/country’s regulations regarding runoff of nitrogen into the waterways.
In order to address the problem of effluent runoff, and/or pugging and/or compaction damage, products such as stand-off pads are often used.
Stand-off pads are, generally purpose-built, drained, loafing or standing spaces where stock can be held for long periods when it is not suitable to have them on pasture, for example during a wet season, inclement weather, or when it is otherwise undesirable to have cattle or other livestock on pasture (for example, when it is desirable to protect or shield the livestock from direct heat or sunlight). A Redpath stand off shelter may also be used.
Stand-off pads may be constructed of wood/wood chips, metal/lime, or concrete. One disadvantage associated with presently available stand-off pads is in relation to draining. That is, many pads often have poor drainage generally and/or simply allow the effluent to drain into the existing effluent disposal systems such as oxidation ponds, or worse, directly into waterway.
With stand-off pads that do not allow for effluent to be drained or flushed away, the removal of effluent may be difficult, time consuming, and/or require regular attention.
Furthermore, it is found that there are usually problems associated with standing of livestock such as cows on presently available concrete pads (predominantly lameness) and wood chip pads (predominantly mastitis). The effectiveness of wood chip pads is generally found to be dependent upon good management and regular maintenance, involving regularly stripping the old surface and replacing it with new wood chips. This can be both time and cost intensive.
It would be desirable to provide a farming structure such as a stand-off pad with minimal or no effluent discharge or cleaning requirement, and which provided livestock with a safe and healthy environment.
The Redpath Stand-Off shelter when combined with a standoff pad which will go at least some way towards addressing the foregoing problems or which will at least provide farmers with a useful option.
