Old farm buildings are often more of a liability than an asset when it comes to livestock production – but with a little work they can be put to good use.
Dark, damp and poorly ventilated, old buildings are rarely suitable for modern farm animals, leaving them prone to respiratory diseases and other infections. But that doesn’t mean they have to be condemned, as one farmer in Devon has proven.
Jim Stephens, vice chairman of the Devon NFU, keeps 850 ewes and finishes 450 beef cattle a year at Swannaton Farm, Sampford, Devon. He had a number of old sheds, and decided to tackle their dark and dingy state by adopting a modern new technology. “The sheds were all either clad in wooden boarding or had solid metal walls, so there was no ventilation or light let through,” he says.
“When I heard about Highlight – a perforated metal wall that allows light and air to pass through, without ingress of rain – I replaced the walling with that, and the whole atmosphere in the sheds has improved dramatically.”
Mr Stephens houses his cattle over the winter, and lambs his Lleyn and Exmoor mule ewes indoors from February onwards. “We have one main cattle shed and lots of smaller sheds for the sheep,” he says. “The Highlight has made all the sheds much lighter and better ventilated. The cattle don’t sweat nearly as much, and seem a lot more comfortable – it’s a much healthier environment.”
At some point Mr Stephens plans to build a completely new cattle shed, and will install Highlight on three walls, with an open front for feeding. “I don’t think we pay enough attention to how much light there is in our buildings,” he says. “It’s also important to have a vented ridge in the roof to build the stack effect which lets warm, moist air out.”
By removing damp air, he’s found his straw usage has dropped dramatically. “We bed on straw, which is a large cost over the winter,” he says. “But now we have a much drier environment we’re not using nearly as much. I wouldn’t go back to Yorkshire boarding now – the new walling is far superior and has been a great way to give my old sheds a new lease of life.”