Farm roadways are key on Irish dairy farms, for maximising the amount of grazed grass in the cow’s diet and increasing profitability.
Because of this, the specification that the roadways are built to, are important in order to ensure that they operate as required, and last for a reasonable amount of time.
The cost of installing / updating roadways is expensive, so it is important that it is done right the first time.
Width
The width of your roadway should be determined by the number of cows you are milking or could be milking in the future.
For a herd with 150 cows or less, a roadway width of 4.5m is adequate, with a additional 0.5m for every extra 100 cows advised.
It is also important to remember that some machinery will be using the roadways so adequate width should be provided.
Slope
Controlling the flow of water from roadways is important; laying water will only cause damage to the roadway surface.
The slope of the roadway will depend on whether you choose to have a one-sided slope or two-sided slope:
- 1:20 one-sided slope;
- 1:15 two-sided slope.
It is also important to remember the newly introduced legislation to prevent direct run-off of soiled water from farm roadways.
If you are constructing a new roadway or making changes to an existing one you should ensure that the roadway is not in breach of the legislation.
Surface layer
Surface selection is important, it has to provide some cushioning to cows’ feet while also being able to allow machinery to travel on it.
Having a good road surface for cows to walk on is a key control measure to reduce lameness issues on dairy farms. It will not completely eliminate lameness, but it can reduce the number of cases considerably.
Lameness can be a frustrating and costly issue for farmers. On average, one lameness case can cost a dairy farmer €300/year.
It is recommended to use 50-75mm of fine material on the surface of the roadway and to have it well compacted.
Fencing
Fencing is another key area that Irish dairy farmers use to control grazing on their farms.
When fencing along a roadway, it is important to create enough entrances and exits from paddocks.
These are useful for grazing management in the spring and back end of the year, when strip grazing is more common on farms.
It is also important that the fence along a road is erected 0.5m from edge, to allow for the full width to be used.