GreenCon has close to six decades of experience in Victoria’s dairy industry. In that time, we’ve constructed hundreds of dairies (in fact, we’re close to finishing construction of our 40th dairy this century alone) and are confident about our experience with the design and construction process. That said, we recognise that the industry is always evolving and innovating – and we are proud to be a part of that.
Since 2010 we have been part of a handful of leading-edge projects within the industry. Many have stood at the forefront of innovation within agriculture and some – like what follows – have been Australian firsts.
At Clydevale, a family farm a few hours’ drive north of Melbourne, we designed and constructed a 1-hectare compost bedding barn and dairy, with eight Lely robotic milkers. The barn is 192m long – 32m longer than the MCG’s goal-to-goal distance. (In fact, if we could chopper the barn onto the G’s playing surface, it would overlap the first 12 rows of seats at both ends.)
The project took about four years from the time we held the earliest concept discussions, through to client hand-over. It began operation in mid-2021, and houses 500 Holsteins in four herds. Only a few months after the herd moved under cover, Clydevale’s cows had increased their average daily milk production by 13 litres, and the farm was loving the improvements they were seeing in calving rates, their animals’ health and pasture/crop yields.
Clydevale was one of five featured in the inaugural Raising the Roof event held in May last year. The event was an effort coordinated by Dairy Australia, Agriculture Victoria and Victoria’s Regional Development Program, and attracted about 250 people from the industry. At the event James Green, GreenCon’s Managing Director, spoke about some of the planning, construction, and operational insights particular to the barn and dairy’s design and construction.
So, if you are interested in robotic dairying or sheltering cows in a barn, you’re welcome to catch up and chat with James. Over the years he’s picked up a thing or two about the design and construction of dairies and is happy to share that wisdom.
Also, if you want to see what Clydevale looks like in-the-flesh, check out a couple of film-clips by clicking the videos below. Both clips provide an overview of Clydevale.
Posted 9 October 2023. All rights retained by GreenCon Australia Pty Ltd. For more information about the subject matter this News post refers to, make contact with GreenCon c/- info@greencon.com.au or +61 3 5595 1078