calving shed cost TAMS or Not

cuculainn

Hi,

Quick question for you all.

Currently have a small farm that my father is still farming. always looking for ways to make it easier on him. based on reading here and my own opinion it is better to invest in buildings than tractors etc. (we have a ford 4600 which is probably good enough)

we have a 4 bay back to back slatted shed (built in 1997) that houses 12 sucklers and usually approx 18 weanlings/stores.

i was thinking about building a 2 bay calving shed onto the side of the slatted shed for the calving season. currently it is a bit of an issues getting cows due to calve out of the shed as the feed barrier has to be opened and this is difficult when he is on his own and also dangerous. The cows have also calved on the slats which isnt ideal.

with the calving shed we could put a gate in the side wall of the slatted shed that would open into the calving bay....much easier.

we could also have a creep i guess which would be useful too

would keep the calving shed basic, with a calving gate a number of pens notthing too fancy required really


my question is how much would a 2 bay lean too cost and would it be worth the extra cost/time delay of going through TAMs or do it without grant.

Any ideas on design is also appreciated

thanks

cuculainn

Just to follow on to this with some more information.

while i am sure we would meet the planning exemption criteria, the existing shed would not have got planning permission when it was built.

on a related note. if i was to build a crush/holding pen at the entrance to land we have away from the main farm, would it require planning permission? it would be a road side entrance, but the current gate is set back slightly from road.

kerry cow

Sometimes a job like that is best just go do it yourself and don't bother with a grant and all the red tape .it works out a good cheap job without the hassle . imo .

Parishlad

kerry cow wrote: »

Sometimes a job like that is best just go do it yourself and don't bother with a grant and all the red tape .it works out a good cheap job without the hassle . imo .

I think I would agree with this. Shouldn't be a big job to do what you want to do and if it was me I would just work away without having to jump through the hoops for a grant.....that you may or may not even get!

cuculainn

kerry cow wrote: »

Sometimes a job like that is best just go do it yourself and don't bother with a grant and all the red tape .it works out a good cheap job without the hassle . imo .

Parishlad wrote: »

I think I would agree with this. Shouldn't be a big job to do what you want to do and if it was me I would just work away without having to jump through the hoops for a grant.....that you may or may not even get!

Thanks lads, thats sorta where I'm at with it, but dont want to through away money either without putting out a feeler. and here seemed to be a good place to do that!!!

What sorta cost would you think i could get it done for? Before i go out looking for quotes>

I have not been actively involved in farming so am a bit green!!

thanks

farawaygrass

Firstly I would contact your ag adviser. Even if you didn't go for the grant it might be as well to get planning if required. You never know down the line when it could become an issue, say if you went to build again in the future. Also if you are attaching the new shed onto the old it could work out being a big job if you went for tams grant. The spec of the current slatted shed wouldn't be anywhere near today's standard (I assume), even though it is probably structurally sound. Therefor there would need to be some work done to existing shed for grant, which could prove costly.