Farm Diary

THE frosty weather has turned rather cold, wet and nasty. If it continues to be frost-free for the week, there will be furious activity on the building site, as all pouring of concrete has been delayed. I am assured that the two 'plates' (bases for the concrete tanks) will be completed before everyone leaves for Christmas this Friday.

At the moment, the bases are a complex weave of steel mesh, intricate, symmetrical, and almost a work of art! There are several tonnes of steel in each base, welded together and forming several layers, in between which, is a labyrinth of plastic pipe, which will carry the water; providing under-floor heating.

Underneath all this is a thick layer of extruded insulation material which is several inches thick. This will carry the weight of the completed tower, which when full of muck, slurry and silage, will weigh 4000 tonnes (each).

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I've had to have the farm drive completely re-done, as it became almost impassable following its destruction by all the trucks arriving on farm to deliver equipment and materials for the build.

The cows think that all this activity is very exciting, and the dry cows (on their holidays) very nearly ran on to the building site last Friday, having broken out, by snapping a 'D' coupling that holds the tension of the steel wire rope, under which they feed.

Next week we will need to hang gates at each end of the feeding passage, so that if this happens again, at least they will be contained in their shed. Can you imagine the chaos, if these girls started running amok through the site?

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette December 17

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