Modernizing Dairy Housing with Cover-All Compost Barns
Given the level of innovation and success that
John and Annelies Seffrood have achieved with
their dairy business, NorSwiss Dairy, one would
never guess they entered the dairy industry with
limited experience. Important connections in the
dairy industry as well as a keen sense for business,
led John and Annelies to begin milking their first
cows in January of 1999. Almost ten years later,
NorSwiss Dairy has grown from a 200 cow
operation to a 1200 cow operation.
The addition of three Cover-All® Legend®
compost bedded pack barns has made significant
improvements to their operation. The compost barns have
reduced straw consumption and solid waste by fifty
percent, and the compost creates a comfortable
place for their dairy cows. “One Cover-All we use
for our close-up heifers and another Cover-All
building holds approximately one hundred
close-up cows. Last summer, we expanded the
dairy again and added another Cover-All barn for
our fresh cows,” explains Annelies Seffrood.
The bright interior of the Seffrood’s Cover-All
compost barns create a natural environment that keeps
the cows comfortable in all seasons. “The cows are
so much more comfortable in the compost barns
and the barn is brighter. One thing we don’t like
about steel barns is the condensation in the winter
and we don’t have that problem with the
Cover-All,” says John Seffrood.
Rototilling the pack of the compost barns is an important part of the
composting process, so the Seffroods needed a
building that would have high-clearance and few
structural obstacles. Cover-All’s clear-span design
and high ceilings allowed the Seffroods to
maneuver their equipment with less difficulty.
John says, “When you’re rototilling, you’ve got to
be up to the wall and we wanted enough height so
that we didn’t hit that with the loader or tractor, so
that was the other main reason for going with a
Cover-All; it’s easy to get into and out of.”
“We like that we can light the whole Cover-All
barn with five lights instead of the ten that I have
to use in my freestall barns. And even ten just isn’t
enough, but in here the five lights just light it up
really nice,” says John. “During the day, the
Cover-All compost barn is so much brighter than our wood
barns.” Cover-All buildings are also virtually
maintenance-free and require less energy
consumption for lighting, allowing dairy
producers to save time on building repairs and
money on operating costs.
John and Annelies found that their three
Cover-All compost barns worked so well for their dairy
that they purchased a fourth building. “The
Cover-All building is one of the best choices for this
application. The 70 foot wide barn, as far as price
per square foot goes, has worked out really well.”
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