Nationwide farmyard design and infrastructure events underway
Over the coming weeks, Teagasc will host a series of Farmyard Design and Infrastructure events across Ireland.
The events will cover all aspects of farmyard design, highlighting best practices and common pitfalls observed on various farms, and will focus on slurry management, nitrates compliance, water quality and the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS). Other key topics for discussion include drafting system layout, optimal cubicle shed location and design, as well as calf housing and calving sheds.
Topics to be covered:
- Milking parlour, holding yard and drafting
- Focus on cow flow, drafting efficiency and management of dairy washings.
- Cubicle shed
- Insights on cubicle shed design, scraper options, slurry storage requirements and details on the new grant.
- Calving and calf shed
- Advice on space allocation and ways to improve labour efficiency.
Good planning and design are key to ensuring good animal performance and ease of management, so getting the design correct is critical. Most farmyards have developed over time, with a new feature added typically every other year. Often times these are added without consideration for the overall flow and design of the yard.
“The cost of developing and building up your farmyard has increased dramatically over the number of years, so if you are hoping to invest, it’s very important that its planned right,” Patrick Gowing, Dairy Specialist at Teagasc said when highlighting what’s planned at these events in the below video:
For more insights, Patrick Gowing joined James Dunne on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to outline what will be discussed across these national events.
Listen in below: