Beef

Preparing for a construction project in 2024? The time to initiate the process is now. Expanding an existing livestock facility or establishing a new one requires substantial time and effort even before groundbreaking. Whether you’re looking to augment your current feedlot, venture into beef confinement barns, or enhance feed storage facilities, here are ten crucial considerations

Sand separation systems are a common feature of sand-bedded dairies. The mainstream acceptance of sand bedding brought about a refinement of separation systems, which has led to systems that produce bedding quality sand with minimal sand bypass. With potential sand recovery ranging from 90 to 95%+, a well-functioning separation system has the potential to greatly ease manure handling challenges associated with sand. On the other hand, a poorly functioning system—that is, say, a system operating at 75% recovery has the potential to cause significant frustration since the 25% of the sand being bypassed can may potentially settle in pipes, tanks, digesters, etc. Ultimately, the sand recovery should exceed the requirements of the downstream processes. How is your sand separation performing? Sand recovery? Sand cleanliness?

Many considerations go into the design of a beef cattle feedlot: animal welfare, cost, manure management, and space utilization are a handful that may come to mind, among many others – but how often is the pen surface type considered? Most feedlots today consist of open soil-based pens to provide a home for feeder cattle where they can gain weight in a comfortable environment. While this industry-standard design has proven successful for many decades, advances are being made to improve feedlot pen surfaces – roller compacted concrete (RCC) leads the way as a key advancement, providing an improved concrete pen surface with many advantages

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have come to the forefront of conversation over the past few years. We hear about emissions and sustainability almost everywhere these days – from Wall Street to Main Street and Walmart to Washington, D.C. – the conversation is all around us. Putting politics and personal beliefs around climate change aside, one thing that is certainly here to stay (and grow) is society’s interest in caring for the environment. Animal agriculture is committed to doing its part

From the guiding system and the chute to staging pens and loading or unloading, these four components must all function well for a handling facility to be successful. No two facilities are the same. That is why livestock system engineering and designer Settje Agri-Services employs the knowledge and skills of industry experts to deliver custom solutions that fit unique situations. One such expert is Dr. Kip L. Lukasiewicz, a partner with Production Animal Consultation. Lukasiewicz trained with well-known and respected livestock handler Bud Williams whose low-stress stock-handing method has contributed to increased productivity and better safety and security for the stock and the handler.

Recently, there’s been an increase in the awareness and utilization of manure aeration technology that incorporates an “aerobic” process that supplies enough oxygen to support aerobic bacteria.  While historically, the capital and operating costs of aeration systems have been seen as cost-prohibitive, advances in the design and components used in today’s systems have demonstrated the potential to offer an attractive return on investment, in addition to improved odor control and net manure value for the operation.

Nebraska and the Midwest are in a unique position to capitalize on multiple opportunities available for confined beef production.

Every livestock facility construction project comes with its own unique set of circumstances and challenges. That’s why Settje Agri-Services makes every effort to lay out the construction process and timeline as transparently as possible.

When it comes to raising crops, any farmer will tell you, “timing is everything”. And that goes double for the timing of your manure application. Getting the right amount of nutrients applied to your field at the right time is a key factor to ensure a good start to next season’s crops. Stockpiling manure on the edge of a field in the summer can give you multiple advantages over waiting to purchase your manure, including more control over the timing of your fall/winter manure application.

Beef confinement buildings are growing in popularity as an alternative to traditional beef feedlots. Many scenarios can arise that will dictate the construction schedule for a facility, including the overall complexity of the project, permitting process, and time spent designing and engineering the facility.