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Compost barn is a perfect fit for this dairy operation Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Agri News staff writer
CLAREMONT, Minn. -- Milk production has increased and foot problems have decreased since the cows on Clover Glen Farm moved into their new compost barn.
Glenn Johnson and Debbie McDermott-Johnson built a new compost barn on their farm just across the Steele County line last fall. Earthwork began in July and the cows moved in at the end of November, Johnson said.
He decided to build a compost barn after viewing three by Sleepy Eye. One had been used for five or six years, he said.
His compost barn is quite a switch from the free-stall barn the cows were formerly housed in. The roof is higher and there is much more light. There are no stalls. The cows lay directly on a sawdust pack that is built on a clay floor.
His 70 cows appear to like their new barn. They look content and average milk production has increased five pounds a cow since last fall, Johnson said. Somatic cell count has dropped 200,000 points and heat detection has improved. No foot problems have been seen.
Johnson is as happy as his cows with the new barn.
"I haven't seen anything I would change," Johnson said. "It's a joy working with cows in here."
The barn is designed to be cleaned once a year with a skid steer, Johnson said. Once or twice each day, the top six to seven inches of compost are stirred with a 72-inch roto tiller attachment on the front of the skid steer. The new manure and urine added daily heat with the temperature in the compost pile hot enough to kill any harmful bacteria, he said.
There's room for 80 head in the barn, with 85-square-foot per head on the bedded pack area in the 70-by-170 foot barn. Curtains on both sides can be raised and lowered and there are 18-foot sidewalls. The higher sidewalls allow for more ventilation and also for semis to be able to back up into the barn and unload.
Eight "yard" lights to light the barn. They are set on timers to come on at 8 p.m. and shut off at 10 p.m. before coming back on at 4 a.m. Johnson said the periods of light and darkness are good for milk production.
The feed alley, separated from the compost pack where the cattle lay, is scraped once a day and the contents gravity flow into the manure storage basin.
A new load of sawdust arrives on the farm once every three weeks at the cost of about $1.20 per cow per day in the winter. Johnson hopes to stretch the deliveries out to once a month.
The sawdust is from ground-up pallets, Johnson said. He purchases the product from a business in Lakeville. It's similar to what would be used in a turkey barn.
Johnson tested the first batch of compost from the barn and found it to have five pounds of nitrogen, three pounds of phosphorus and seven pounds of potash. He's hoping those numbers will increase once the pack has a chance to heat through a summer.
It's a challenge to get the sawdust to compost properly in winter, Johnson said.
He plans to clean the barn in September, applying the compost to a harvested corn silage field.
Johnson's Holsteins, Jerseys and Guernseys have a herd average of 84 pounds of milk per cow per day. BST is used selectively.
Johnson also remodeled his parlor last winter, pouring the concrete on New Year's Eve. He can milk his 70 head in an hour in the newly renovated swing-10 parlor.
There's still a few things to finish, but the parlor and barn will both be on a Steele County dairy tour slated for June 20. |
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