What is needed to equip a barn?

Are you thinking of building a new barn? Or making the existing one more sustainable and re-equipping it? Then you have to take a lot of things into account, What is needed to equip a barn? Peter Vereyken, representative at JOZ dealer H.A. de Bruijn (Belgium district), explains what you should pay attention to when equipping or re-equipping your barn.

Barn equipment starts at the drawing board

H.A. de Bruijn is a specialist in making and installing barn equipment. The company advises livestock farmers on the best equipment for their barns and provides what’s necessary, such as the feed fences, cubicles, manure scraper system, and feed pusher system. ‘Equipping your barn properly starts at the drawing board. It’s better to invest time in a good design beforehand than to find out afterwards that you’ve forgotten things, or that certain choices don’t work in practice,’ says Peter.

Ideally, a barn designer should be involved with livestock farmers from the very start when they build a new barn or want to make an existing barn more sustainable. ‘In most cases, an architect makes a design which broadly reflects the dimensions and layout of the barn. We assess these designs, and frequently discover that they still need some modifications. For example, is there a discharge pit? Can a manure scraper be driven at the same width to this pit, and is there also space for mounting corner rolls, drives, or both? In addition, the pit must be on the appropriate side for the manure storage or a separator. And from an architectural point of view, the construction itself must be feasible, and preferably as simple as possible. There are lots of practical details that have to be taken into account, and farmers can’t know everything.’

Safety

Efficiency and whether everything fits are important when equipping a barn, but so is safety. ‘It’s an essential aspect. We often come across discharge systems which have been placed inside the barn on a drawing for example, but it’s better to place them outside. That is safer for yourself, and leaves your cows with more space to walk around. If you do have a discharge pit inside the barn, make sure that it’s well protected with a fence.’

Avoid surprises afterwards

H.A. de Bruijn uses JOZ solutions, so the company knows exactly what the choice of an item such as a new manure scraper or manure robot means for your barn design. ‘If you want to use manure scrapers, the manure alleys must be the same width everywhere and free of obstacles, otherwise it won’t fit. It’s also important that there aren’t too many differences in level, and that the floor is smooth. When we share our ideas about these aspects, it benefits you as a livestock farmer a lot later on.’

Automation and sustainability

More and more farmers are switching to automation. It saves time, and prepares you for the future. ‘The arrival of manure robots and feed pusher robots has made the farmer’s life much more flexible, which is the big advantage of automation. But what you have to remember is that these robots must be charged. That means you need charging stations in your barn where the robots are located, something that can be overlooked. Make sure that when the robots are charging, they don’t obstruct the mixer wagon. In addition, robots also often need water and internet connections.

The stricter legislation on reducing emissions has led to Peter noticing an increasing demand for solid barn floors. ‘Many livestock farmers with slatted floors are thinking about switching to solid barn floors, and installing a manure robot. The Barn-E is one option, as it was specially designed for this situation. There is also an increasing demand to separate and filter manure, for which the Separator and Nitrogen cracker were recently launched. It’s interesting to work together with our customers on searching for new solutions that increase sustainability.’

So: what is needed to equip a barn?

Our answer to the question, ‘What is needed to equip a barn?’ is brief: ask for advice early on in the process. It all starts at the drawing board. Together with your architect, construction company and barn designer, think carefully about how you want to equip your barn and the effects of certain choices in practice. That avoids any unexpected surprises later on. If you’d like to find out more, contact a dealer near you.