HAY SHEDS

Safe, secure and effective storage of hay is critical to preserving its quality. The degradation that occurs from exposure to weather elements such as high winds, rain and extreme sunlight causes hay to lose its nutrition value and quality. Poor quality hay doesn’t provide the necessary goodness required for productive livestock health and growth. The amount of market value that can be lost quickly by poor storage is truly staggering, particularly if the hay grown, baled, and processed is of export quality - which is often used for feeding prized champion horses in overseas countries such as Japan and throughout the Middle East.

Whilst lower cost option alternatives to quality steel hay sheds are available, they are a short term and unreliable option and also difficult to make sense of if you are serious about the investment you put into your programme of growing and processing top-quality hay. AUSPAN’s proven steel hay sheds provide a long-lasting solution to protect and maintain the quality of your hay all year round no matter the severity of the weather elements.

There are a number of different configuration options you may consider for a hay storage shed when designing - with some designs only requiring a roof and 1 or 2 walls on the strongest prevailing weather (wind, rain etc) sides. If you are needing to store high-quality hay where total protection is required, then you might opt for an ‘open front’ style shed where 3 sides of the shed are walled off with just one open front side that faces the most naturally protected direction which allows access for loaders, trucks, and telehandlers to load and unload the shed with the hay being stored.

The other factor to consider is a fire risk, considering that hay is combustible and this process needs to be monitored and managed to ensure the risk of serious fire break out is mitigated and controlled. Extra-wide openings on the ‘access’ side of a hay shed are also often favoured with the introduction of ‘clear span’ beam portals to reduce the number of vertical columns required to support the roof of the shed which then means fewer obstructions that can be unintentionally run into by machines when in operation.

Our team of the hay shed experts at AUSPAN first seeks to understand your own situation, future plans and requirements and then will help you design and build the perfect hay shed to suit so as to offer the best value option for your investment.

GRAIN & FERTILISER SHEDS

More farmers in today's growing industry are electing to store their grain produce and sell it when the market conditions are more favourable, rather than delivering it all as it is harvested directly to the Co-operative Bulk Handling (CBH) facilities. This allows the farmer to sell the products at better prices, enabling him to enjoy better margins. Other reasons for on-farm storage requirements are in mixed farming operations where livestock is part of the programme of which grain is kept for feeding animals. Keeping your grain in the best condition possible is the single most important thing you would want to prioritise when needing to store grain in bulk on your own property. Proper storage not only helps your grain stay free from mould, mildew and disease but also protects it from external factors such as rain and extreme heat. Loss and spoilage of grain directly affect your bottom line and ultimately your profit.

Although liquid fertiliser is being more widely used in farming today, the agricultural industry continues to see a wide range of granule fertiliser used throughout cropping programmes. The window of time that these products are used is generally just the sowing season but it is still very important that it is stored correctly and in a way that it is protected from weather elements. Granule fertiliser needs to be stored in a cool and dry environment as their performance can be heavily affected by environmental factors such as light, heat, and rain. A proper storage solution is critical to maintain the product’s performance and maximise the results that the fertiliser contributes to the crop growing process.

There are different ways and options that grain & fertiliser storage sheds can be designed and built, and it all depends on what the farmers’ goals are. Often these types of sheds will mostly be built with concrete walls around the perimeter to a height of 1-2mtr which allows the filling of the shed to a lot more capacity than what could be achieved with just the standard tin cladding to the ground. The concrete walls act as ‘bunkers’ and can be essentially filled up to the height of the wall by which the peak of the pile is often quite a bit higher although accommodated by the peak of the shed’s roof.

The use of front end loaders, telehandlers for the unloading of product is also made possible without the risk of damaging tin cladding walls with machine’s bucket or other tools. There are usually a couple of different ways the height of the grain/fertiliser storage shed is considered in the shed’s design as well. One is a ‘sliding roof’ concept which allows the whole storage shed roof to be slid backwards from covering the concrete bunkers so that a semi end tipper driver can tip to unload the product in the bunkers without the overhead roof preventing it doing so. Another option is that the height of the shed is built to accommodate the height of a tipping semi-trailer so that it is unobstructed to unload. Other options are to load grain and fertiliser storage sheds with a low angle auger or conveyor belt elevator which is able to reach far enough into the shed to fill it to the capacity and the truck is able to unload into the auger or conveyor from outside the shed.

AUSPAN can provide grain & fertiliser storage sheds in a wide range of sizes and designs to address your storage needs. We understand the critical role that successful storage of produce and fertiliser plays in the profitability and efficiency of a successful farming business, and we strive to deliver a solution that brings you the benefit, value, and productivity to your operations for years to come.

MACHINERY SHEDS

Agricultural machinery and implements such as tractors, air seeding equipment, harvesters, sprayers etc usually make up a big proportion of investment capital in most farming operations, and they need to be kept in good condition to ensure they perform as they are designed to when needed. The cycle of growing involves time-driven programmes of planting and harvesting which need to be utilised as efficiently to ensure the best possible results whether it be getting seed sown before the winter rains or harvesting grain and storing it safely and securely out of the elements as soon as it is ripe. It is in these times that well-maintained equipment is of critical importance so that it is reliable, and downtime through breakdown or equipment failure is minimised to as little as possible.

A major factor in keeping equipment well maintained is the adequate storage of this machinery to provide protection from the harsh conditions and bad weather that our country can dish out. When the seeding or harvest season is over, successful farmers then put their machinery through a process of cleaning, servicing, greasing, replacing any worn parts, refuelling and then storing away securely until required again. Although it may seem a hard task to steal a large harvester or tractor, theft and vandalism on farms are a significant problem, so safe and secure machinery shed also gives you peace of mind that your gear is protected.

AUSPAN understands the larger machinery used on today's farms and how it can most effectively be stored in a well-designed and planned machinery shed built for your own operation.

WORKSHOP SHEDS

Healthy cattle can survive regular weather conditions if provided with adequate feed and water. A shelter, however, helps your cattle better cope with climatic extremes in weather and temperature conditions that occur throughout the year, contributing to an increase in their productivity and reducing production losses. Cattle shelters provide clean, dry, and comfortable environments for cattle while also protecting them from the extreme summer heat, severe storms and disease.

Well designed cattle shelters are effective in facilitating various cattle processing tasks such as vaccinating, dehorning, and weighing that need to be done as part of a livestock growing programme when receiving new cattle onto the property or before sending them to market. The shelter can also be a big advantage in dealing with sick or infected animals when needing to treat and/or isolate them from the main herd. Renowned global studies show that cattle that have access to good shelter have improved growth rate, productivity, and lower mortality rates.

Having worked with many of Australia’s leading cattle operation enterprises including pastoralists, stations, and feedlots along with experience in the construction of buildings designed for improving the welfare and health of animals, AUSPAN is well aware of the best designs and materials that create a premium cattle shelter and help run your daily operations effectively.

SHEARING SHEDS

Apart from efficiently managing the whole shearing process, shearing sheds play a vital role in housing the necessary shearing equipment as well as making sure that shearers are able to work with shearing clean and dry sheep even when weather conditions are unfavorable.

The design of shearing sheds can highly influence the efficiency of sheep-work and the health and safety of both the sheep and people involved in the shearing programme. Well-planned quality shearing sheds can ensure improved efficiencies, reduction in costs of wool harvesting, and improved operator safety. It also ensures that animal welfare standards are met.

Partially because of the insulation properties of wool, sheep can better adapt to ambient conditions than other domestic animals. Shearing, as an annual activity, is considered as a necessary practice not only for wool production but also for hygienic reasons. Most sheep do not mind being shorn as long as they are kept in a comfortable upright position throughout the process. Sheep that haven't been shorn before or haven't had much interaction with humans often find the shearing process to be an unsettling experience as they aren't used to it. So smart design and management of the overall shearing shed infrastructure, beginning from shed entry ramp to sheep penning area, shearing area, wool processing and storage area can make a big difference in the successful operation of the whole process.

Shearing can be a chaotic process, and if it isn't managed well, animals will become stressed and shearing teams will be frustrated which will lead to declining productivity. It's very important to build a shearing shed that can help keep things in order and manage the workflow efficiently. A well designed and built shearing shed is the investment of a lifetime. AUSPAN has the expertise and experience of decades to deliver you a shearing shed which not only helps better manage your shearing process but also lasts for generations to come. We consult, advise, and customize your shearing shed and supporting infrastructure to what you need and will guarantee on-time delivery within the agreed budget.

MULTIPURPOSE SHEDS

Building different sheds for each particular storage purpose on your farm is expensive and unnecessary if your operation is one that requires several of the different types of on-farm storage and shelter required by a multi-faceted farming business. For example: investing in a fertilizer shed to store fertilizer that only remains on your farm for a couple of months for the seeding period will mean your shed isn't being utilized for the rest of the season. AUSPAN introduces the concept of multipurpose sheds to solve these issues.

By designing your new shed to be multipurpose, it can be built with different areas of the layout, serving different and multiple purposes. A fully enclosed machinery storage shed could also have a workshop section at one end so that maintenance and servicing of machinery can also be done in the same shed. A grain & fertilizer storage shed may also have a lean-to on the side for drive-through parking of semi-trucks and trailers. A fully enclosed machinery shed may also include a cantilevered roof on the access side to provide shade and shelter when machinery is being worked on outside the main shed structure. Multipurpose sheds can reduce the time spent on logistics and handling processes with everything being located in the same shed building location for better access.

As multipurpose sheds are able to handle a wider variety of your different farming needs, they can be fully utilized more efficiently throughout the entire season rather than being dedicated to a single specific use. AUSPAN has been able to effectively work with farmers to identify these specific needs of their own operation to help design and construct multi-purpose sheds that have and will continue to serve them for years to come. Having everything under one roof can have functional advantages and can be - most importantly - more efficient and cost-effective.

AUSPAN’s multipurpose sheds are essentially the bringing together of all the great benefits of each type of shed used in the farming industry into a single premium steel shed building and the concept has proven very popular in today’s farming community. From hay sheds, shearing sheds, lean-to sheds, grain & fertilizer sheds to machinery and workshop sheds whatever your operation requires to run effectively, the experts at AUSPAN can assist with a piece of advice and recommendations on how these shed types can all be bought together into a single package that suits your own farm’s needs if a multipurpose shed is the right thing for you.