Farmer Focus: One snag with new cow shed design

The cows are settled in their new building, which is 95% complete. There’s a final part of the ridge to fit but the weather made it difficult. 

Once that’s done, the nets can come down and the lights can go up. The final parts of a building project always seem the slowest, and everyone is getting sick of raking sand cubicles by torchlight.

I always think people are keen to tell you how good something is when they’ve spent a lot of money on it. Very rarely do you hear someone question their decisions. Well, I am doing a bit of that right now.

See also: ‘Shocking’ cost of Red Tractor’s green module revealed

About the author

Tom Stable

Tom Stable and family, Ulverston, Cumbria, milk 350 Holsteins three times a day, producing milk for Arla and ice cream for their Cumbrian Cow brand. The 300ha operation, of which two thirds is rented, grows grass, maize and winter wheat and cows average 11,800 litres.

Read more articles by Tom Stable

There are some teething problems with the channels carrying the sand slurry to the store. The concept and design worked faultlessly when the channels were 25m long, but they’re struggling now we’ve extended them to 50m.

I’m hoping it’s just “newness” from the initial influx of sand used to fill the new cubicles, along with any debris that found its way in there during the build.

However, it’s looking increasingly likely I have made a mistake and am going to have to have a rethink, which is bitterly disappointing given the fact it’s all new.

November was the busiest month we’ve ever had for calving here. We’ve outgrown our transition building since it was put up in 2010.

However, calving more than 50 through a system designed for less than half that has gone better than we expected.

Adding a calcium binder into our close-up diet has made periods like this much easier. Beforehand, handling all these fresh cows would have been, to put it bluntly, a train wreck.

The large number of calves has also put pressure on our calf rearer and longest-serving team member, Lisa Barton.

Lisa has been with us for more than 15 years, taking full responsibility for calves up to and just past weaning.

She is a tremendous stockperson, and her determined and enthusiastic nature results in fantastic calves that are a credit to her. 

In other less positive news, the starlings that plagued us last year have just started to reappear. Birdscaring banger ropes seem to be keeping them at bay for now, but I’m not sure how long this will last.