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Brothers Share Dairy Barn, Keep Separate Herds
With the high cost of farm buildings today, why not share a barn and milking parlor with another farmer?
That's what brothers Kirk and Roy Carrel! have done on their adjoining dairy farms near Godley, Texas. When the two brothers expanded their dairy operations a couple years ago, they needed new barns but
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Brothers Share Dairy Barn,Keep Separate Herds DAIRY EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Dairy Equipment & Ideas 3-4-22 With the high cost of farm buildings today, why not share a barn and milking parlor with another farmer?
That's what brothers Kirk and Roy Carrel! have done on their adjoining dairy farms near Godley, Texas. When the two brothers expanded their dairy operations a couple years ago, they needed new barns but felt that the cost of two new buildings was too high. So, they decided to share a barn.
Both brothers operate 200acre farms. Kirk put up the barn on his land but it stands right alongside the boundary between the two farms. He leases part of the barn to Roy at $225 per month.
Inside the barn there are two separate systems for the two herds -two bulk tanks and two feed storage areas. The herds are kept separate, and milked separately in the barn's "double eight" herringbone milking parlor.
After Roy's herd is milked into his bulk tank, the pipeline is switched over to Kirk's tank for the milking of his herd. Switching the line also switches the automatic feeding system for the other herd.
"We buy some hay and brewers grains together, then split the cost of each load. We also share the cost of supplies used in the milking parlor, as well as sharing a barn tractor, emergency generator and a hay truck," says Roy. "Otherwise, each herd is managed independently."
The Carrells also divide the cost of the labor furnished by seven hired milkers.
Roy is currently milking about 200 cows, and Kirk 225. "We have just a verbal agreement," says Roy. "We didn't have any.legal papers written up. We didn't know of any arrangements like this, so we just experimented on how to set it up. Thus far, it has worked out real well."
Kirk has been dairying since 1972, and Roy since 1975. Roy made such good progress in three years that he was named Star Young Farmer for his area of Texas in 1978.
The Carrells haven't had to make any adjustments in their original barn-sharing arrangement but they expect that changes will be necessary as changes are made in their respective dairy operations. They currently are contemplating automatic milker take-offs.
For more details on their shared dairy barn arrangement, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Roy Carrel!, Rt. 1, Box 47A, Godley, Tex. 76044 (ph. 817-389-2293)
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