Page 4 - SEDairyBrochure

Design Services for Dairy Facilities

Stonecrest Engineering has been w Is your feed management system On the other hand, limiting the size of
providing efficient, cost-effective dairy effective, and will it continue to the facility may also be a
designs to the agricultural industry since work with your proposed expansion? consideration. Under the 1995
1995. We pride ourselves on providing Canadian National Farm Building
detailed quality and service to each w How will you handle manure in your Code, facilities greater than forty-eight
customer no matter the size. new facility? Do you have hundred square meters (approximately
adequate storage available? Is 51,000 ft2) are required to have a one
Over the years, there have been many there a more effective way to hour fire separation. The location of this
industry trends that have changed the handle your manure? fire separation may provide challenges
way that dairy farms operate. New to the ventilation and functionality of
technologies, coupled with increased The location and orientation is another your facility. Stonecrest Engineering has
regulator y requirements, municipal, important consideration in your new helped many customers work with their
provincial or state codes and design. Proper orientation can increase local municipalities to develop a
environmental guidelines have made the ventilation of the facility. Milk truck workable solution.
dairy facility design and construction access must be maintained. Proximity
more complicated than ever before. to feed and manure storage, existing Finally, we recommend that you
At Stonecrest Engineering, our designers and future, should be considered. consider some of the new technology
work closely with our clients to Minimum distance separation (MDS) that is changing the way that modern
determine their specific facility needs from adjacent structures, lot lines and dairies operate. Do you foresee that
and to assist them in developing a roadways must also be ensured. you will one day switch to robotic
workable facility that meets the Provisions should also be made to milking? Is your facility well laid out to
necessary codes and regulations, ensure that biosecurity of the facility is do so? Other technologies that you
without sacrificing comfort and supported. may wish to consider include
efficiency. automatic feeding systems, manure
In determining the size of the new separation and manure composting
In planning a dairy expansion, there are facility, it is important to evaluate your for bedding.
many considerations with regards to the present and future needs. What do
existing facilities and how to best your long term cow numbers look like?
incorporate the expansion. These Where is your replacement stock now,
include: and where do you want them in the
future? It is always more cost effective
w Do you intend to continue to use to build a larger facility today and grow
your existing facilities? If so, for what into it, then it is to build an addition in
purpose? the future. Additional space can be
used to house replacement stock,
w Does the expansion affect the equipment, hay or sand storage.
existing facilities from a structural
point of view? How do you know?

Milking Parlours and How They Impact on Dairy Facility Design

One of the most important considerations in the design of a dairy facility is the method of milking. Whether it is a tie stall
configuration, line parlour, rotary parlour or robotic milking system, it is important to properly plan for the milking system.

Stonecrest Engineering has designed hundreds of facilities to suit each type of milking system. Our designs take into
consideration cow traffic, holding area sizes, ventilation and sorting requirements. Our experts can discuss the benefits of
below parlour basements, tunnel locations for rotary parlours as well as the necessary clean access to robotic milking
equipment.

Since the choice of milking system is a personal one, we recommend that our customers research the various options
available and tour as many facilities as possible to gain insight into the benefits of each.