Knaptoft Farm, Lutterworth

Description

For farm owner, Neville Hall, the construction of a new, purpose built dairy site has been key to expanding his dairy enterprise.

The original dairy at Knaptoft Farm, near Lutterworth, was established by BOCM Silcock in 1967 as a demonstration farm, before Neville and his wife Kim took over the business in 1991. With three grown up children who have all taken an interest in the farm, Neville knew that the enterprise needed to expand and decided to construct a new and improved dairy unit on an eight-acre green field site.

The new dairy unit consists of two cubicle sheds, a 50-point rotary parlour, calf unit, straights store plus a new slurry store and silage pits. In total, the project took over a year to construct, with cows moving onto site successfully and happy.

The farm now houses 240 cows with plans in place to increase numbers to around 450 cows next year. Cows are milked twice a day and milk is supplied to Arla on a dedicated Tesco contract.

When designing the livestock buildings, Neville sought the advice and project management skills of Vic Wheeler, from specialist agricultural building designers ATSS Ltd. Together they visited Reading University to examine the most up-to-date ideas regarding effective livestock building construction.

Neville was keen that the livestock buildings were light and airy, with the most efficient levels of ventilation possible. This was of special importance in the calf housing, where keeping levels of moisture and air borne bacteria to a minimum is essential to reduce the risk of disease in youngstock.

To maximise animal health and performance, Eternit fibre cement roofing sheets were specified for all livestock buildings, due to the high levels of insulation and vapour permeability that they provide. As a local councillor, Neville was also acutely aware of the visual impact that his new buildings would have and wanted the site to fit in well with the local countryside. To ensure this, he specified Eternit Profile 6 in ‘Antracite’ and is very happy with the building’s final appearance.

Eternit is the only UK manufacturer of fibre cement profiled sheeting. British made, for British farmers, our wide range of products and ventilation systems are better for animal health and welfare, providing excellent noise and thermal insulation, reduced condensation and resistance to even the most extreme weather condition.