Couple’s plan for modern new cattle shed is approved (From Darlington and Stockton Times)
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Couple’s plan for modern new cattle shed is approved
3:11pm Friday 15th March 2013 in Farming
A COUPLE have won planning permission to create a showpiece dairy, to house cows from conception to the end of their working life.
Jill and Graham Stockdale, of Deighton Lane, Brompton, near Northallerton, said they hoped to start work on the building within months, after Hambleton district councilors applauded their move towards modernising farming practices.
The building is setto become a showpiece development for farming technologies firm GEA and the couple are hoping to attract school trips to teach children about modern farming methods.
The Stockdales said their six-figure investment would see their 200-head Holstein-Freisian herd living in the building, featuring a 756sq m area for the cows to lay down, a 955sq m area for the animals to feed and a 831sq m area for the herd to move around.
While the building will exceed the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs animal welfare guidelines, almost a quarter of space inside the building will be devoted to feeding passages for tractors and the unit also includes four milking robots and a calving area.
By having an entire dairy system under one roof, GEA say animal welfare and management is improved as handling stock is easier and it also removes dirty water fromuncoveredyardsasanimals are not moving between buildings.
A GEA spokesman said: “After just a short time each of the animals will regularly go into the comfortable milking stall in keeping with their own cycle.
Here they will be served by the mobile attachment robot.The restis a pleasant routine.”
Mrs Stockdale said: “We are passionate about dairy farming and it is in our owninteresttohavehappy cows as they will give more milk.It will be something this area can be proud of.”
At a meeting ofthe council’s planning committee, Councillor Peter Sowray said the plan was “the way forward for modern agriculture”, while Councillor Margaret Skillbeck said the building blended in with the landscape.
