D2O-Lancast«r Farming Saturday, December 14,1985
Brocket's Ag Advice
By John E. Brockett
Farm Management Agent
Lewistown Extension Office
Air movement is critical
Proper air movement for
livestock is essential for health
reasons, for good feed palatability,
for operators comfort and health,
and to prevent moisture caused
structural damage. Good air
movement is most essential for the
babies, but does not stop with
them.
What does proper ventilation do?
Sometimes farmers think all
ventilation does is to control
temperature. With that thought in
mind, they do not become con
cerned about how the temperature
is reduced or how air moves.
Proper ventilation actually does
more than control temperature. In
fact controlling temperature is the
way ventilation does it’s more
important job, that of moisture and
stale air removal.
Look at it this way, cold air
contains a lot of real small par
ticles. As it warms up those small
particles grow bigger. The bigger
they grow the more water they can
hold. In a building, that is properly
ventilated, the fresh cold air comes
in, picks up moisture (from the
cows’ breath and waste), and then
is kicked out by the vent fan.
When the fresh air picks up
moisture, it also collects the dust
particles that hold odor and germs
because they are usually attached
to the moisture droplets. Thus they
too are expelled from the building.
Result is that the building smells
better, is more comfortable, and
contains fewer germs and dust. A
second result is that there is less
moisture to condense on cold
surfaces in the building which in
turn reduces deterioration of parts
of the building.
Stall Barns
With winter weather coming,
most farmers feel they need to
close things up tight. It is true cold,
wet drafts can cause mastitis,
pneumonia, and uncomfortable
animals.
However, still, damp air at
nearly any temperature can be
just as devastating. It, too, can
cause mastitis, pneumonia, and
uncomfortable animals. Even in
barns with a good ventilation
system, air can be stale. The
reason may be dirty or plugged
inlets or bad thermostats or
partially blocked fans.
Let's look at the inlets first.
Dust, bird feathers, straw or hay
chaff, cobwebs, or a lot of things
can plug or partly plug them up.
Every year a dairyman should
clean them out even if it means
taking the outside wire off to do the
job.
If they are not working properly,
air will come in through cracks,
silo and hay chutes, gutter cleaner
openings, door and window cracks,
and anywhere else it can find an
opening. The fan or fans create a
vacuum in the stable area. This
vacuum needs to be filled with air
from some place. The purpose of
inlets is to bring the air into the
vacuum uniformly so there are no
drafts.
Thermostats that do not work
properly can also be a problem.
They allow the temperature to
build up too high which in turn
means moisture is increasing.
Temperature changes can become
quite large as the fans do not turn
on and off as often as they should
for proper temperature and
moisture control. Check the
thermostats for corrosion and dirt
that could cause them to
malfunction.
Partly blocked fans reduce the
ability of that fan to move air ef
ficiently. This results in increased
fan use to do the job which means
extra energy and possibly extra
fan repairs. (More cost for the job
to be done). Inspect the fans for
possible partial blockage. They
should also be checked for dirty or
rusted shutters which prevent the
shutters from opening properly.
Clean blades, shutters, and fan
mountings. Replace fans that do
not work properly.
Free Stall
Barns:
Unlike stall bams, free stall or
loose housing bams can not use
temperature as a method of
controlling moisture and stale air.
This does not mean that moisture
and stale air are not a problem for
this type of structure. On the
contrary, they are serious
problems.
In Pennsylvania, natural ven
tilation can do a very good job of
air movement if the building is
constructed right. That means
openings under the eaves and at
the peak of the roof. As air comes
into the pole bam under the eaves,
it picks up the warm, moisture
laden air from the cows and
manure and rises (warm air
usually is lighter than cold air
because it has bigger particles
think about a balloon).
When it gets to the top of the
building, it goes out the hole in the
top carrying with it all of that
moisture, dust and germs. Do not
close the side openings all the way
or it will become more difficult to
get good, fresh, dry air into the
barn to absorb the moisture
(water).
Also do not close the top opening,
even if snow does drift down from
it sometimes, or the warm,
moisture-laden air will have no
place to go. It will then touch the
underside of the roof and cool off.
The cooler air particles will shrink
in size and deposit water on the
wood and metal of the roof. What
does water do to metal?
Ciba-Geigy wins P.R. award
The American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Ap
praisers presented the Society's “Meritorius Service
Communications" award to Ciba-Geigy Corporation at the
1985 annual meeting in Kansas City. The award, accepted by
Jim Palmer, at left, director of advertising and promotion,
recognized Ciba-Geigy’s commercials, sponsored by Dual
herbicide, that support the American farmer and broaden the
public’s understanding of agriculture. At right is James
Hutchinson, chairman of the awards committee.