NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State
University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
March 26, 1998
Buildings and equipment on a dairy farm create an environment that meets the needs of the animals. Facility design must also consider labor requirements, animal and material flow, pollution control, expansion possibilities and management requirements. Developing facilities that meet these requirements is not a simple task, says Ken Hellevang, agricultural engineer with the North Dakota State University Extension Service.
Dairy producers and others planning to build or remodel dairy facilities will find a new book, Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment, MWPS-7, to be a good comprehensive resource. The recently released sixth edition covers all aspects of freestall facilities.
Some of the new, expanded and revised material in the book includes designing and maintaining the freestall area, designing facilities for housing dry cows and having a proper milking environment. Other new topics include footbaths, personnel passes, summer ventilation management and designing commodity storage areas. Chapter topics include replacement animal housing areas, milking herd facilities, milking centers, special handling and treatment areas, building environment, manure and wastewater management, feeding facilities and utilities.
The book contains more than 100 figures that provide design detail for elements such as forward and side lunge freestalls, post and rail feeding fences, brisket boards, milking center layouts, manure management systems and ventilation systems. Also included in the book are more than 50 tables that provide specific information about topics like freestall dimensions, minimum feed space requirements, ventilating rates for warm barns and water volumes required for flushing waste.
MWPS-7, Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment, was prepared by agricultural engineers at the land-grant universities in the 12 states of the North Central Region of the United States. It is available from Extension Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, P.O. Box 5626, NDSU, Fargo, ND 58105-5626, (701) 231-7236. The cost is $22.00.
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Source: Ken Hellevang (701) 231-7243
Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629