Imagine touring a barn without infringing on biosecurity concerns. Now, imagine touring the barn from the comfort of your favorite chair, with your favorite snack and beverage at the ready. Too good to be true? Think again!

What does a typical ventilation set up look like in a free stall dairy barn? An easy question to ask, but a slightly more difficult one to answer. While Canadian geography has its’ differences, the theme across the country is the same – moving air to provide a better environment for your cows, and your employees. If you do not have sufficient air flowing in and out in a timely manner, then cow comfort, nutrition, and milking method is almost a moot point. When we take the varying climates into account, a better question to ask is ‘What does a typical free stall dairy barn setup look like in each province?’

Background and the Basics

Over the years, New Standard has constructed countless tunnel ventilated barns and has engineered the remodels of many others. Truthfully, ventilation for livestock housing is part of the DNA of the New Standard Group as that is what we focused on in our early years. Things have changed a lot since that time and the Group has expanded greatly, yet ventilation engineering is still something we love to do and love to discuss.

Over the course of the last three years or so, the team at New Standard has started to incorporate a new facet of ventilation regulation (and modification).

New Standard Ag took on a renovation project located at Greenwald Colony, in Brokenhead, Manitoba, Canada.  The renovations started in early January 2020. Before renovations, it was servicing 1200 head of sow. The crew and the client worked to get the barn fully empty in March. Renovations were completed and filled with sows at the beginning of August 2021. This was a great example of the fine eye for detail, taking advantage of space, and utilizing the whole facility to its full potential.

What a time to be alive! This was given to Kevin by his mother. She found it while cleaning up the attic of the farmhouse (it’s the same house that his dad lived his entire life). This book was filled with goodies that can still be appreciated today.

A completely new hog production facility upgrade has spanned the last four years on the Neudorf Colony in Crossfield, Alberta, Canada. "Kase from New Standard West has been great. From the first meeting, he heard what we were looking for and created a drawing that would meet our needs as well as creating a system that would help in achieving results," says Jerry, second hog manager at Neudorf Colony. The following case study outlines the project and what services and equipment New Standard Group provided in the barn build and construction and support and system implementation after the build. 

Remember your mother asking you if you were "born in a barn"? Because every time you came into the house you left the door wide open? The expression hasn't aged well, as old barns don't hold a candle to modern hog and turkey barns. Our point? your Mom was right, and you need to keep your doors shut. 

When New Standard is installing new ventilation equipment or helping get a new barn setup, it is always part of our training to educate farmers on keeping rooms as sealed as possible. Keeping hallway doors propped open breaks this seal and are often the biggest offender. Keeping these doors open has an adverse effect on the ventilation of a room.

Recently we were able to capture this data in visual form thanks to our Fusion control panel. Check out this image, and let us explain what happened so you can prevent this in your barn.

A few weeks ago, we shared a fun "throw-back-Thursday" post highlighting some barn building catalogs of yesteryear. You can re-visit that blog here if you like. Within one of these barn building catalogs, we found an extensive section about the importance of barn ventilation.