Ashton Hawker with a representative from T H White

AS all dairy farmers know only too well, cows begin to suffer from heat stress at much lower temperatures than humans. Heat stress can have a severe impact on milk production and fertility, resulting in the loss of up to four litres of milk per animal, per day, as well as sharply reduced pregnancy rates.

There is now a more cost effective solution to this problem and one that is far less noisy than the usual box fans. TH White, the well-known agricultural supplier, provides high volume, low speed fans, developed in America, which circulate a large column of air at just the right speed for a perfect cooling effect.

And these MegaFan installations are proving very successful in the UK. The Hawker family, who farm 1,200 acres at Hullavington, Wiltshire, keep a herd of 400 dairy cows. After TH White had installed four 24 foot fans in each of his sheds, Ashton Hawker said: "After just a few weeks the Megafans have already made a considerable difference. The beds are drier increasing comfort and the fans can also be used to extract air from the sheds, greatly improving the atmosphere. Now I am looking forward to the difference they will make in the hot months ahead."

The main reason for this is MegaFans are more efficient than conventional fans at doing their job - one Megafan consumes less electricity than one high speed box fan, while moving over 12 times as much air. And the costs add up too, with a Megafan consuming around 0.5kw of electricity per hour, costing less than £2 per day if run for a full 24-hour period.

American studies have shown these fans lower the temperatures in dairy buildings by six to eight degrees, and the resulting avoidance of loss of milk profits, coupled with energy savings, mean the cost of installing MegaFans can be recouped in a relatively short period, with excellent cost savings after "payback".

The quality of service provided by TH White is exceptional, as their customers will testify. Last year the company celebrated its 175th birthday and many staff have been with the company for over 25 years. It's a family business, which specialises in dairying, so they offer the highest level of expertise and support, to ensure instillation and maintenance is as stress-free for the farmer, as it will be for the cows!

4:12pm Wednesday 14th May 2008

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