Customer Testimonial in Nebraska Cattlemen Magazine
Accu-Steel fabric covered building solutions was recently featured in a special Farm and Ranch Equipment section of the Nebraska Cattlemen magazine. Read an excerpt from the Accu-Steel customer testimonial as it appeared in the article.
Excerpt from Nebraska Cattlemen – March 2014 Edition
Fabric-Covered Buildings Offer Numerous Benefits
Fabric-covered buildings have been on the rise for years, and for good reason. Beef producers in all segments of the industry have seen the benefits of fabric-covered structures, including dependability and cost-effectiveness.
After researching fabric-covered buildings for about a year, Allen Richters, Beaver Crossing, Neb., built one of his own. A farmer-feeder, Richters had 1,200-head capacity prior to putting up the building, and the structure allowed him to expand by 600 head without adding to the capacity of his lagoon, which he says is one of the greatest benefits.
“We upgraded our manure management plan, but with the fabric-covered building, we were able to increase capacity with an exemption through the DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality),” he explains. “Now we either stockpile the manure from the fabric-covered building so it runs into the lagoon, or spread it on our fields right away.”
Working with Central Confinement Service, Ltd., Columbus, Neb., Richters built a steel-framed Accu-Steel building and started feeding cattle in the 60’ x 416’ structure in August 2013. While he has yet to feed a group of cattle in the fabric-covered building from start to finish, he has fed several groups of cattle in it for the last 60 days prior to harvest and has observed consistent differences between the cattle fed outside and the cattle fed in the Accu-Steel building.
“Under the same management and feed ration, four pens of cattle fed in the fabric-covered building have come back with Yield Grade percentages about 1.5 percent higher than the cattle fed outside,” Richters explains. While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why this is, Richters reasons the cattle in the building have more even feed intake, and aren’t moving around as much because they’re more comfortable.
For more customer testimonials like the one featured in the Nebraska Cattleman magazine, visit the Accu-Steel testimonials page.