Ten years ago, New Elm Colony was looking to build a new barn for their turkey operations.
After researching numerous solutions, Brian Wollman came to the conclusion that New Standard was the best option to suit their needs.
Flash forward a decade, and they’re still very pleased with the systems New Standard helped put in place.
The colony is located just east of Ethan, South Dakota. At the time, New Standard didn’t even have an office in Sioux Falls.
“Both of them (Tim and Kevin) came down from Canada, and they helped us install everything,” said Wollman. “They didn’t leave until they made sure everything was working.”
Now, with a convenient location in Sioux Falls, Wollman says it’s been perfect having New Standard’s expertise nearby.
New Elm transitioned from an older system that used more individual controls to monitor and ventilate zones within the barn to an integrated New Standard/Microfan system that consolidates functionality. This consolidation has helped improve efficiency by making the fans and heat work more smoothly thus reducing heat requirements while still improving the control over air quality and humidity.
Their operation now produces around 180,000 birds per year, and it was a need to increase in numbers that initially drove them to build a new barn, and as the number of birds increased, Wollman needed a solution that would save time.
That’s where Microfan technology came in.
“I like the control, how it operates, and the durability. I haven’t touched the control for ten years and it keeps on working,” said Wollman.
The ease of the system, and the ability to “set it and forget it” proved quite valuable for Wollman’s operation.
“For controlling ventilation, I don’t know if there’s a better one out there,” he said.
Additionally, Wollman has noticed a positive effect on the health of his turkeys since adopting the new system. “The consistent ventilation is a lot better, it’s perfect for the birds,” he says.
While Wollman appreciates the proximity and helpfulness of New Standard’s team when questions arise, the best part of the system is actually its lack of maintenance.
Wollman and his fellow workers in the barn never have to worry about adjusting the controls, and have found issues to be sparse, calling it a “trouble-free” system.
“I’ve got nothing to complain about.” he said. As a matter of fact, as his older barns have needed to be updated, he has chosen the New Standard/Microfan team as the best option for new controls. In 2018, he added his first Argos series system into a retrofit.
Interested in learning about other poultry solutions? Check out our case study on the transition to tunnel ventilation at Silver Lake Colony.