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TUNNEL VENTILATION FOR FREESTALL FACILITIES – DESIGN, ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, COW BEHAVIOR, AND ECONOMICS

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Pp. 227-234 in Fifth International Dairy Housing Proceedings of the 29-31 January 2003 Conference (Fort Worth, Texas USA)  701P0203.(doi:10.13031/2013.11626)
Authors:   C. A. Gooch and R. R. Stowell
Keywords:   Airflow, Heat stress, Thermal environment

Tunnel ventilation, the practice of installing large exhaust fans with high flow rates in one endwall of a barn to draw air longitudinally down the barns length from an inlet located in the opposite end wall, has recently received favorable usage by many dairy producers in the United States. The success of tunnel ventilation varies depending on several key variables. Several recently published research reports compare and contrast tunnel ventilation to natural ventilation. Tunnel barns were shown to provide a slight improvement in some aspects of the cows environment during potentially stressful conditions. Overall many barns that employ tunnel ventilation provide a better environment for housed cows than if they were naturally ventilated. Economically, an analysis of all associated cost for employing tunnel ventilation shows that payback, measured in sustained milk production, is achievable, especially for longer barns. This paper aggregates our research work and field observations to provide a single reference that can be used to obtain upto-date knowledge of tunnel ventilation for dairy freestall barns.

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