Compostbarn System Floor
A compostbarn floor is typically covered with large sized wood chips. The compostfloor materials will last for a considerable time when kept beneath the Redpath roof system and becomes more economic to consider.
The compostbarn floor should ideally be kept dry and protected from weather (rainfall). Keeping the compostfloor system dry provides a comfortable and soft resting place for the cows and also substantially reduces the incidence of disease/bacteria (mastitis) which is typically associated with barns that are dark, damp and cold.
The compostbarn system is "foot friendly" and cows can be stood off for long periods at a time with little affect on feet, limbs, and joints. The cows are also able to lie down on the soft litter and rest whilst
digesting any feed provided.
Concrete strips laid along the edges of the shelter can be beneficial for the cows to stand when feeding or to drop feed onto. Redpath can supply various designs that are being used by farmers nationwide and you can best choose the one that suits your farms operation.
Drainage of the deep litter compost system is very important! Drainage can be achieved using various methods - but typically these involve drainflo style piping placed in a round rock drain below the floor line. Typically there will be a minimum of three drains per span, but some farmers are finding that drains as frequent as 1.2m apart work best when holding cows for long periods of time, or when the Redpath shelter is being used as a wintering barn. Talk to Redpath about the various options available as some ground conditions may require less drainage than others - and it is dependant on the farms soil type.
A non permeable membrane may also be fitted below the round rock / gravel line so as to ensure that all effluent run off and its valuable nutrient content is caught and drained to the effluent pond.
A compost barn or deep litter floor is typically constructed on a slightly raised platform (see drawing below) - this is so that any internal moisture surrounding the building is not allowed into the shelter and also so that the shelter itself will tend to drain the perimeter drainflo surrounding the structure.
If in doubt Call Redpath for some guidelines on pad design Free Ph 0508 733 728, it's a lot easier to get the drainage correct at the beginning than to try to do this work once the shelter is in place and being used.
Concrete floor with scraper
Manual scrape systems, is when manure is scraped off the concrete pad to the end of the stand off shelter by a tractor/blade or a chain driven mechanism with a scraping attachment. The manure is either stored temporarily in a solid stack or holding trough, or loaded directly onto a manure spreader. Other stand off sheds may (dependant on council conditions) be washed out with recycled wastewater to flush the manure to a storage pond, although this is not the preferred method in today's environment. Drains can be built into the concrete pad with controlled “fall”. Flush systems require the stand off shelter to be located near to a good water supply (often recycled) and the design of the system and holding pond usually needs to be designed to meet local council needs and environmental expectations.
The Redpath stand off sheds allows natural UV light and warmth to enter through the special roof covering and this along our unique ventilation design begins the process of manure breakdown drying. The UV covering "Duratough 4 " allows the micro-biological organisms to naturally work on effluent breakdown.
Slotted Concrete Floors
Some stand off shelters use slotted concrete floors above a pit, This type of system has been gaining popularity for some farm operations overseas & locally for quite a number of years. Some of these floor “self draining” systems allow the use of machinery inside the stand off shelter and some do not. Raised stand off shelters can be also constructed to allow the material to be collected by machinery that can drive beneath the stand off shelter itself.
Overseas designs of effluent control include collection pits that separate the solids from the liquid portion of the manure. Solids separation can be mechanical, in which the liquid portion of the manure is squeezed though a screen or “weeping wall”. This provides a relatively dry solid that may be composted. Sloped screen’s work by trickling the manure over a sloping screen so that the effluent drips through the screen with the solids sliding down for collection. Concrete pit separators work by using a porous "weeping floor system" in which the water content of the effluent is allowed to weep through smaller drains in the flooring while the solids are retained. The solids then can then be removed as a semi-solid and this is another option for solid manure management.
With sloping screen separators or other mechanical methods, the effluent may go into a settling pond to settle out even more solids before the effluent is allowed to enter into an even larger pond. In sandy or lighter soils, dairies must line the lagoons with compacted clay or synthetic or have synthetic liners installed to meet local council requirements. It is important to consider local by laws before choosing your effluent control and management system for your stand off shelter. contact Redpath to discuss all of the above options.
All of these systems work toward a managed and controlled system of effluent control in the intensive use of Redpath stand off shelters.
Effluent Disposal Stand-Off dairy shelter General Information
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 distribute effluent from a holding pond or tank onto pasture. Similarly, an irrigation style 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. Care should be taken when spreading effluent on wet farmland, there may be a greater risk of runoff of the untreated effluent into waterways.
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 up to 30% ) 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.
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.
