cows on rubber mat

Greengrass1

Had a brain wave tonight while milking.
Seeing as cubicles won't really fit in my big shed how would covering the whole shed floor in a rubber mat. I know of a lad in Wales who kept 60 fat dry cows on his collecting yard last winter when he was tight for space on a rubber mat.
He washed it down every day and it did the finest.
Would it work for 60 drys in a 50x75 shed?
Scrape down everyday and through a load of lime around it.
What does matting cost?/10e/m2?

visatorro

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Had a brain wave tonight while milking.
Seeing as cubicles won't really fit in my big shed how would covering the whole shed floor in a rubber mat. I know of a lad in Wales who kept 60 fat dry cows on his collecting yard last winter when he was tight for space on a rubber mat.
He washed it down every day and it did the finest.
Would it work for 60 drys in a 50x75 shed?
Scrape down everyday and through a load of lime around it.
What does matting cost?/10e/m2?

Just a normal cubicle mat is about two metre Sq. They are about 50/60 euro. Was half thinking of something similar but for calves. Never really seen it anywhere else before

Greengrass1

visatorro wrote: »

Just a normal cubicle mat is about two metre Sq. They are about 50/60 euro. Was half thinking of something similar but for calves. Never really seen it anywhere else before

Emailed a lad about it. He doesn't really like the idea says it will cost 9 k. Don't think its a runner

Panch18

why won't cubicles fit in the shed?

Greengrass1

Panch18 wrote: »

why won't cubicles fit in the shed?

Pillars in middle if shed. Passages will be too tight IMO.
I don't want to put cubicles in it tbh. I want to build them across from shed and leave that shed loose bedded with 5-6 calving pens along back wall

JohnJoe88

Rubber mats = waste of money
IMO

there are mats out there for €50-70 per space (45inches centre to centre)

And there are Matress goin in now for €75-95 around here

Seen a guy with a 60 x50 shed with 60 cow spaces in the 7ft 6" bed and 6ft passage ways. Working great for him now that the Matress is in.
Previously it was rubber mats and they were never lying down (unless exhausted) and lying on the ****!!
He put in the Matress and every space is full now! And better condition on the cows!!

Anyone have Matress in??

Greengrass1

See we won't be able to afford scrapers if we do put cubicles in that shed which I really don't want to. The new tractor won't fit down passages if we were to put them in now and I don't want to go buying a little 135.
My idea was to cover whole shed floor in rubber and scrape out everyday. It couldn't be any worse than dry cows on straw?

Timmaay

GG fire up a photo of the inside of the shed!

The cows would still be free to sit anywhere like in a straw bedded shed? Will you still have issues with cows stepping on teats?

Greengrass1

Timmaay wrote: »

GG fire up a photo of the inside of the shed!

The cows would still be free to sit anywhere like in a straw bedded shed? Will you still have issues with cows stepping on teats?

I will. She's full of dung at the min so doesn't look the prettiest

jaymla627

JohnJoe88 wrote: »

Rubber mats = waste of money
IMO

there are mats out there for €50-70 per space (45inches centre to centre)

And there are Matress goin in now for €75-95 around here

Seen a guy with a 60 x50 shed with 60 cow spaces in the 7ft 6" bed and 6ft passage ways. Working great for him now that the Matress is in.
Previously it was rubber mats and they were never lying down (unless exhausted) and lying on the ****!!
He put in the Matress and every space is full now! And better condition on the cows!!

Anyone have Matress in??

Have alfco mats in here and no issues what so ever, probably referring to the cheap chinese rubber mats that are going about pure disaster alright really hard rubber with no bounce basically just concrete

frazzledhome

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Had a brain wave tonight while milking.
Seeing as cubicles won't really fit in my big shed how would covering the whole shed floor in a rubber mat. I know of a lad in Wales who kept 60 fat dry cows on his collecting yard last winter when he was tight for space on a rubber mat.
He washed it down every day and it did the finest.
Would it work for 60 drys in a 50x75 shed?
Scrape down everyday and through a load of lime around it.
What does matting cost?/10e/m2?

1. Stick with the straw short term
2. Invest the money in a lined lagoon. You need to provide storage.
3. Once done install OC's where you need them
4. Scrape with tractor for a while and when finance allows put in auto scrapers

My tuppence

Greengrass1

frazzledhome wrote: »

1. Stick with the straw short term
2. Invest the money in a lined lagoon. You need to provide storage.
3. Once done install OC's where you need them
4. Scrape with tractor for a while and when finance allows put in auto scrapers

My tuppence

Straw has been short term for last ten yrs
Yr that is my plan ultimately but father not very keen on idea.
What's the cost per cow of a lagoon?

frazzledhome

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Straw has been short term for last ten yrs
Yr that is my plan ultimately but father not very keen on idea.
What's the cost per cow of a lagoon?

I'll PM you, this ain't no place for that info

td5man

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Straw has been short term for last ten yrs
Yr that is my plan ultimately but father not very keen on idea.
What's the cost per cow of a lagoon?

Cost of the lagoon was roughly the same as a slatted tank minus the slats when freeboard/rainfall is taken into account.

Greengrass1

td5man wrote: »

Cost of the lagoon was roughly the same as a slatted tank minus the slats when freeboard/rainfall is taken into account.

Ye I've a big bank of clay at side of yard that I will have to move for silage so I can use that to build up yard and make lagoon instead of drawing down the field

visatorro

frazzledhome wrote: »

I'll PM you, this ain't no place for that info

ah dont be like that!!

JohnJoe88

U cud just go for a Floor wash system but I wouldn't waste money on rubber mats!!!

Straw bed and lime be fine for the moment, save the money and Cubicles with Matress is the way forward!!

frazzledhome

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Straw has been short term for last ten yrs
Yr that is my plan ultimately but father not very keen on idea.
What's the cost per cow of a lagoon?

It may be but yeve bought a farm, educated a family, built up a herd of cows with good fert and Scc, straw for a few more years won't kill ya.

mf240

My tuppence worth.

Build a slatted tank outside existing shed to feed on and continue to bed them in it.

Will do grand for now.

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

See we won't be able to afford scrapers if we do put cubicles in that shed which I really don't want to. The new tractor won't fit down passages if we were to put them in now and I don't want to go buying a little 135.
My idea was to cover whole shed floor in rubber and scrape out everyday. It couldn't be any worse than dry cows on straw?

The 2500 a year u say ur saving by wrapping all ur silage would go a long way towards ur scrapers.............u need slurry storage ,work on that first ,then cubicles.cant see how laying the whole shed in. Mats would work,it'd leave the ace slippy and ultimately only a stop gap.

Timmaay

mf240 wrote: »

My tuppence worth.

Build a slatted tank outside existing shed to feed on and continue to bed them in it.

Will do grand for now.

Agreed, likes of a 16ft wide tank, 10ft deep and maybe 3bays wide if ya can fit it. Go longer if ya can afford it now, but that would store a hell of alot of runoff. I'm looking at something similar, my only issue is it would be bang in front of a silage pit (one of the old curved roofed pits with lean to off each end. Could I go the full width across and put blank tractor slats where the silage comes over?

Greengrass1

Going to ring a crowd today about a lagoon. Think I might hold off till I hear more about grants. 60% is a lot of money on a 30 k lagoon

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

The 2500 a year u say ur saving by wrapping all ur silage would go a long way towards ur scrapers.........

Don't be bringing that argument here I only made this thread to see what lads thought as soon as I heard the price if the mats I knew I wouldn't do it.
When your young ones go to college come back and tell my father how much it costs.

jaymla627

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Going to ring a crowd today about a lagoon. Think I might hold off till I hear more about grants. 60% is a lot of money on a 30 k lagoon

If the waiting times for the current grant scheme are anything to go by, you wouldnt want to be in a hurry/depending on this scheme in the next two years to put up sheds/parlours...everybody including the dog is going to be firing in applications for this new scheme when it opens it

Greengrass1

jaymla627 wrote: »

If the waiting times for the current grant scheme are anything to go by, you wouldnt want to be in a hurry/depending on this scheme in the next two years to put up sheds/parlours...everybody including the dog is going to be firing in applications for this new scheme when it opens it

True planning in Wexford is a night made too.5k is the bare minimum

jaymla627

Greengrass1 wrote: »

True planning in Wexford is a night made too.5k is the bare minimum

Thats another good point, re planning they'll give it to you in one hand and take it of the other haha

Greengrass1

jaymla627 wrote: »

Thats another good point, re planning they'll give it to you in one hand and take it of the other haha

I don't know if I would even get away without planning. Evejmn though neighbour put up a massive shed to cover the yard and had no planning

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Don't be bringing that argument here I only made this thread to see what lads thought as soon as I heard the price if the mats I knew I wouldn't do it.
When your young ones go to college come back and tell my father how much it costs.

Christ I give up ,just making the point which U obviously don't want to accept.if u don't want an honest answer don't ask the question on a public forum.ur the one who said ur saving 2500 a year.whatvthe hell has my daughter goingvto college got to do with it???youd swear nobody else had mortgages /loans to pay.put your self in my shoes 3500 per cow plus borrowed and paying parents in lieu of getting farm,you'd **** itself and I still have money to invest in farm to make it more efficient.invest while ur young and get payement out ofcthe way before you hit early to mid 50s is my motto.tajes a bit of bAlls.
On your lagoon forget about your shiny brouchers you may not even be allowed put obe in .go to your local planning office first.if you lived around here there a no no.you will if you get planning have to sink a lot of money on plans and engineers etc etc.

mahoney_j

Greengrass1 wrote: »

I don't know if I would even get away without planning. Evejmn though neighbour put up a massive shed to cover the yard and had no planning

All very well till cross compliance or nitrates inspection .

whelan2

mahoney_j wrote: »

All very well till cross compliance or nitrates inspection .

i asked gg before-not having a go at you- the county council call here regularly unannounced if you dont have enough storage how do you get away with it? Was all that not to be sorted out when the fwms was out? Seems to be one rule for one county and one rule for another

mahoney_j

whelan2 wrote: »

i asked gg before-not having a go at you- the county council call here regularly unannounced if you dont have enough storage how do you get away with it? Was all that not to be sorted out when the fwms was out? Seems to be one rule for one county and one rule for another

No panic whelan I'm guessing our co co and dept inspectors are cut from sane cloth,both are ruthless and mercyless,others in different parts seem to get a much easier ride.2 years ago I had co co Nd dept here on same day

Greengrass1

mahoney_j wrote: »

Christ I give up ,just making the point which U obviously don't want to accept.if u don't want an honest answer don't ask the question on a public forum.ur the one who said ur saving 2500 a year.whatvthe hell has my daughter goingvto college got to do with it???youd swear nobody else had mortgages /loans to pay.put your self in my shoes 3500 per cow plus borrowed and paying parents in lieu of getting farm,you'd **** itself and I still have money to invest in farm to make it more efficient.invest while ur young and get payement out ofcthe way before you hit early to mid 50s is my motto.tajes a bit of bAlls.
On your lagoon forget about your shiny brouchers you may not even be allowed put obe in .go to your local planning office first.if you lived around here there a no no.you will if you get planning have to sink a lot of money on plans and engineers etc etc.

I never said anything about no one else having loans I don't want a differnt argument brought here it was an idea I had and I found out it wasn't a great one. I'm not making this into a willy waving contest saying I owe more money than you. I'm trying to increase cow numbers so I can dilute my money owed per cow. Even when I do it will still be crazy high. I've a lot if work to do and it won't be done this yr I'd say. No harm in throwing these ideas around. I'm not going to be foolish and put in a big lagoon and then be told I have to rip it out.
What would be the difference if I put in a lagoon vs a concrete tank outside? There both still going yk collect a lot if water

Greengrass1

whelan2 wrote: »

i asked gg before-not having a go at you- the county council call here regularly unannounced if you dont have enough storage how do you get away with it? Was all that not to be sorted out when the fwms was out? Seems to be one rule for one county and one rule for another

Advisor worked it out for us. He puts down the sheds as where the dung is held. is we don't clean them out on paper.
What we did since was we empty silage pit by Jan maybe and start putting dung in there. There is a 10k gallon tank on that for run off. Its not ideal I know but it gets us sorted. I can block off that tank and not let any seepage go into it. The pit is walled at back and has a bit of a slope into back so water stays in it

whelan2

Greengrass1 wrote: »

I never said anything about no one else having loans I don't want a differnt argument brought here it was an idea I had and I found out it wasn't a great one. I'm not making this into a willy waving contest saying I owe more money than you. I'm trying to increase cow numbers so I can dilute my money owed per cow. Even when I do it will still be crazy high. I've a lot if work to do and it won't be done this yr I'd say. No harm in throwing these ideas around. I'm not going to be foolish and put in a big lagoon and then be told I have to rip it out.
What would be the difference if I put in a lagoon vs a concrete tank outside? There both still going yk collect a lot if water

ah ffs lads give it a rest

mahoney_j

whelan2 wrote: »

ah ffs lads give it a rest

I gave an answer to a question asked,answer wasn't liked because he didn't get answer he wanted .this place and some of its posters would fookin ware u sometimes .

yellow50HX

i have been thinking of doing something similar for the yearlings this year.

over the last couple of years i have been putting them in a cubilce shed but its not ideal for them, too much much so have the srape down the beds. I have a leanto next to the shed that is just used for storage. i was thinmkign of putting them in here instead.

the lean to is too low to fit the digger so wouldnt be feasible for straw bedding so i was thinking of putting the mats and scraping it down with a small tractor say every second day. i was thinking of not putting any mats by the feed barrier. anyone down anything similar? how do the mats perform if they have a tractor drivign over them are they easilly damaged?

st1979

You asked about concrete outdoor lagoon. I have one. Couple of advantages. less water to account for as sides are not sloped like lagoon. and I am now thinking of extending mine upwards by building on top of walls to make it 6' above and 8' below ground. you can also put slats on a concrete lagoon

Gillespy

Have the same plans here, in fact there are walls on three sides already so about 60' of wall will almost double our storage. Have you given agitating and getting it out any thought?

st1979

Gillespy wrote: »

Have the same plans here, in fact there are walls on three sides already so about 60' of wall will almost double our storage. Have you given agitating and getting it out any thought?

Its all i think about. Safety is my biggest motivator for having wall. So 1 option is to have ramp up for tractor with long propellor agitator. Not keen on this as it takes away from safety aspect by having a ramp. Other option is build a linkage to allow propellor agitator to reach over wall. ( wouldn't be rocket science need 2 x 90 degree gearboxes and a mind of Mcguiver) Or the other option is an aeration system. Havent priced them but i think it may be scary for a big tank as a lot of piping and joints needed but it would be ultimate in safety and ease.

Getting slurry out would involve putting a pipe in through wall at ground level down to floor sump. Pipe would have to be heavy wall galvanised steel. Then put a slurry tanker valve on it to shut the pipe when slurry is above ground level. 2 valves would be better in case one got blocked.

Like to hear your ideas

Gillespy

Would have one agitation point with only a small ramp due to the nature of our yard. Probably need a bigger longer agitator and perhaps one of those slurry additives to help stop a crust forming.

Emptying would be the same as yours then.

st1979

how deep is your tank at present and how high is your wall on top. also how long and wide is it. mine is 120 x 36 feet. have 2 agitation points at present and could sometimes do with 3

Gillespy

60' x 65' and 8' deep. Have 4 agitation points but only use two. A 4' wall would work with the float channel, can go a few feet higher if we get rid of that and put in a scraper to push directly into tank.

An aeration system would be the best solution I guess. Any of those over the top tower agitators about? the ones with the engine that are lifted in with a telehandler.

Beef2020

Hi all,
New to boards only signed up because I saw this thread and am pulling my hair out. Was driven mad last winter bedding sucklers and weanings on straw. I have a four bay shed with 12' 6" slat in front and a 24' lie back directly behind. I housed 20 cows and 28 weanings last winter. I used 130 round bales of straw at a cost of €2300 plus a days work for the contractor with dung spreader in the spring. Have been thinking about putting n cubicles and clean passage by hand but not really in favour in that if the sucklers go the shed needs to b modified again for dry cattle.
I was talking to easy fix rep during the week about mats for all of the lie back quoted me €4100 for interlocking mats 19mm tick. They would have themselves paid for in less than two years. I am a bit nervous with regard to how clean the cattle would b on them and how often I would need to clean them. I start calving n jan so cows would b n for bout six weeks with calves.
Also numbers are increasing and I will b housing 65 this winter so straw will cost bout €3000 this year if I stay with straw and I will have no storage for the straw so will have to b stored outside and covered or wrapped.
Does anyone know anyone with the mats done in this way r have any suggestions of a different way to house them.

Thanks in advance

Deepsouthwest

st1979 wrote: »

Its all i think about. Safety is my biggest motivator for having wall. So 1 option is to have ramp up for tractor with long propellor agitator. Not keen on this as it takes away from safety aspect by having a ramp. Other option is build a linkage to allow propellor agitator to reach over wall. ( wouldn't be rocket science need 2 x 90 degree gearboxes and a mind of Mcguiver) Or the other option is an aeration system. Havent priced them but i think it may be scary for a big tank as a lot of piping and joints needed but it would be ultimate in safety and ease.

Getting slurry out would involve putting a pipe in through wall at ground level down to floor sump. Pipe would have to be heavy wall galvanised steel. Then put a slurry tanker valve on it to shut the pipe when slurry is above ground level. 2 valves would be better in case one got blocked.

Like to hear your ideas

Was on a farm trip in Belgium a few yrs ago and saw a permanently fixed propellor agitator worked by electricity. Would take out the danger of ramps and tractors for u

visatorro

Beef2020 wrote: »

Hi all,
New to boards only signed up because I saw this thread and am pulling my hair out. Was driven mad last winter bedding sucklers and weanings on straw. I have a four bay shed with 12' 6" slat in front and a 24' lie back directly behind. I housed 20 cows and 28 weanings last winter. I used 130 round bales of straw at a cost of €2300 plus a days work for the contractor with dung spreader in the spring. Have been thinking about putting n cubicles and clean passage by hand but not really in favour in that if the sucklers go the shed needs to b modified again for dry cattle.
I was talking to easy fix rep during the week about mats for all of the lie back quoted me €4100 for interlocking mats 19mm tick. They would have themselves paid for in less than two years. I am a bit nervous with regard to how clean the cattle would b on them and how often I would need to clean them. I start calving n jan so cows would b n for bout six weeks with calves.
Also numbers are increasing and I will b housing 65 this winter so straw will cost bout €3000 this year if I stay with straw and I will have no storage for the straw so will have to b stored outside and covered or wrapped.
Does anyone know anyone with the mats done in this way r have any suggestions of a different way to house them.

Thanks in advance

24 ft lie back is too big an area I think. I'm doing a six foot lie back with a nice sloop on it. It's forty five feet long

moy83

Beef2020 wrote: »

Hi all,
New to boards only signed up because I saw this thread and am pulling my hair out. Was driven mad last winter bedding sucklers and weanings on straw. I have a four bay shed with 12' 6" slat in front and a 24' lie back directly behind. I housed 20 cows and 28 weanings last winter. I used 130 round bales of straw at a cost of €2300 plus a days work for the contractor with dung spreader in the spring. Have been thinking about putting n cubicles and clean passage by hand but not really in favour in that if the sucklers go the shed needs to b modified again for dry cattle.
I was talking to easy fix rep during the week about mats for all of the lie back quoted me €4100 for interlocking mats 19mm tick. They would have themselves paid for in less than two years. I am a bit nervous with regard to how clean the cattle would b on them and how often I would need to clean them. I start calving n jan so cows would b n for bout six weeks with calves.
Also numbers are increasing and I will b housing 65 this winter so straw will cost bout €3000 this year if I stay with straw and I will have no storage for the straw so will have to b stored outside and covered or wrapped.
Does anyone know anyone with the mats done in this way r have any suggestions of a different way to house them.

Thanks in advance

We have 45 cubicles here in one shed with three passages that need to be scraped every day by hand . Its a pain in the hoop and if they were leaving any profit I would be putting in electric scrapers .
Are you on about covering all the lie back in rubber and scraping that daily ? Thats a fair bit of scraping

Would it be an option to give them just a 12' lie back near the slats and use the other 12' for a straw blower for bedding and to let them into when you need to clean out their bed ? That would take most of the manual work out of it providing you can use a tractor/loader in the shed .

Welcome aboard , you are the first poster in awhile that has mentioned increasing suckler cow numbers . Alot of lads are going the opposite direction !

just do it

st1979 wrote: »

Its all i think about. Safety is my biggest motivator for having wall. So 1 option is to have ramp up for tractor with long propellor agitator. Not keen on this as it takes away from safety aspect by having a ramp. Other option is build a linkage to allow propellor agitator to reach over wall. ( wouldn't be rocket science need 2 x 90 degree gearboxes and a mind of Mcguiver) Or the other option is an aeration system. Havent priced them but i think it may be scary for a big tank as a lot of piping and joints needed but it would be ultimate in safety and ease.

Getting slurry out would involve putting a pipe in through wall at ground level down to floor sump. Pipe would have to be heavy wall galvanised steel. Then put a slurry tanker valve on it to shut the pipe when slurry is above ground level. 2 valves would be better in case one got blocked.

Like to hear your ideas

How're you currently managing? It's currently 6ft high right? A 2 ft ramp and keep doing what you're doing?

yellow50HX

Been looking at different sites and have seen some companies do mats for passageways, holding yards and pads. Would these be suitable for bedding? Unlike the cubicle mats these can be scraped and look to be similar to slat mats. As I'll be looking to put yearlings on these I am hoping they will be ok for the cattle to lie on but can be still scraped with a tractor.

Would prefer to straw bed but shed is too low to clean out and I wouldn't have the room for the extra bales.

Beef2020

moy83 wrote: »

We have 45 cubicles here in one shed with three passages that need to be scraped every day by hand . Its a pain in the hoop and if they were leaving any profit I would be putting in electric scrapers .
Are you on about covering all the lie back in rubber and scraping that daily ? Thats a fair bit of scraping

Would it be an option to give them just a 12' lie back near the slats and use the other 12' for a straw blower for bedding and to let them into when you need to clean out their bed ? That would take most of the manual work out of it providing you can use a tractor/loader in the shed .

Welcome aboard , you are the first poster in awhile that has mentioned increasing suckler cow numbers . Alot of lads are going the opposite direction !

Thanks moy83 and visatorro

I am afraid that the scraping might b too much but the easy fix lad said that you could scrape it with the tractor which might not b too bad!!! ?
Was thinking of putting 12' of mats behind the slats but would then have to divide the lie back in two to stop straw getting n under the mats. R are u saying to put straw on the 12' lieback? Gone through so many options at the moment I don't know what to do. Was kind of set on the mats just unsure how clean the cows would stay. Would mastitis be a prob?

Alternative is dig out the back of the lieback and put in a tank I have another 10' behind the lieback (where there is acrush at the moment)to feed off of. This would leave about 10'between the two tanks for calving pens, calf lieback etc expense is the problem with this option.

I don't want to put anything too permenant for the time being invade the grant might come through down the road.

Sucklers increasing this year to 24 from 20 small steps with regard to them main increase is n purchased bulls for under 16 month bull beef but would intend goin to 30 cows down the road. Sometimes when everyone is gettin out is the time to get in !!

just do it

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Had a brain wave tonight while milking.
Seeing as cubicles won't really fit in my big shed how would covering the whole shed floor in a rubber mat. I know of a lad in Wales who kept 60 fat dry cows on his collecting yard last winter when he was tight for space on a rubber mat.
He washed it down every day and it did the finest.
Would it work for 60 drys in a 50x75 shed?
Scrape down everyday and through a load of lime around it.
What does matting cost?/10e/m2?

GG
Another aspect to this is your cows will be dirty. You're used to having them on straw - there's no comparison. Maybe fine for sucklers but I wouldn't fancy it for milkers.

moy83

Beef2020 wrote: »

Thanks moy83 and visatorro

I am afraid that the scraping might b too much but the easy fix lad said that you could scrape it with the tractor which might not b too bad!!! ?
Was thinking of putting 12' of mats behind the slats but would then have to divide the lie back in two to stop straw getting n under the mats. R are u saying to put straw on the 12' lieback? Gone through so many options at the moment I don't know what to do. Was kind of set on the mats just unsure how clean the cows would stay. Would mastitis be a prob?

Alternative is dig out the back of the lieback and put in a tank I have another 10' behind the lieback (where there is acrush at the moment)to feed off of. This would leave about 10'between the two tanks for calving pens, calf lieback etc expense is the problem with this option.

I don't want to put anything too permenant for the time being invade the grant might come through down the road.

Sucklers increasing this year to 24 from 20 small steps with regard to them main increase is n purchased bulls for under 16 month bull beef but would intend goin to 30 cows down the road. Sometimes when everyone is gettin out is the time to get in !!

Well if you're set on mats and can scrape with the tractor it won't be too time consuming . I doubt it would be much worse than straw for mastitis and if you find yourself getting a few cases you could always sprinkle out a bit of lime over the mats a couple of times a week . I started doing that last year and it cut down on mastitis and helps for keeping lice at bay aswell .
If you were calving on the mats would it be an option to let them out to a paddock for a few days after calving to harden up before lying on the mats ?