Guidelines for Victorian Dairy Feedpads and Freestalls

In recent years, drier seasonal conditions, uncertainty about water availability, fluctuating ‘supplementary’ feed and fertiliser costs combined with lower milk prices have resulted in a significant shift by the dairy industry in Victoria to more intensive production systems. In particular, more feedpads and some freestalls have been built to facilitate dairy production. A feedpad is an enclosed area where dairy cattle are provided with a portion of their daily feed requirement as hay, silage, grain or mixed feed for all or part of the year. An effectively sited, designed, constructed and managed feedpad should provide cattle with easy access to feed, minimise feed wastage and prevent adverse impacts on amenities and the surrounding environment ( i.e. natural resources such as soil, water and air ). Feedpads can be classified according to their permanency ( e.g. semi-permanent or permanent ) and the manure management method used ( e.g. scraping or flood washing ).

Citation: O’Keefe MF, Chamberlain P, Chaplin S, Davison TM, Green J, Tucker, RW 2010, Guidelines for Victorian Dairy Feedpads and Freestalls – First Edition, 2010, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria.

Weblink: www.dairyextension.com.au/edit/resources_nrm/feedpads%20and%20freestalls.pdf

PDF: Feedpads_and_freestalls.pdf