Construction work on a state-of-the-art cattle shed to provide vital shelter for the island’s largest dairy herd could be finished by the end of next month.

The large structure at Green Land Dairy in Smith’s is expected to help milk production levels remain constant across the summer months and throughout the year. Dairy farmer Valter Medeiros told The Royal Gazette the shelter was absolutely vital to ensuring the wellbeing of the 120-strong milking herd on Store Hill.

“By providing shade and shelter to the herd, it will allow us to keep the level of milk we are producing consistent throughout the year,” he said. “Right now, our production levels drop about 1,000 litres per day in the summer as the cows suffer heat stress.

“Once the shed is erected, the cows will be able to move into the shade as and when they want to.

“It also enables us to stagger the birth of calves, and therefore milking, throughout the year, rather than just in the cooler months.”

The shelter, which is 75ft wide by 150ft long, will be topped by a metal roof and will include a deep manure pit at the western end of the structure.

Meanwhile, inside the shed fans and misting equipment will be installed to keep the cows cool in their specially adapted bedding areas that are modelled on waterbeds. Mr Medeiros’s wife, Lidia, told The Royal Gazette that the couple hoped the shed would be complete and in use by the end of February.

“It has been a long process,” she added.

“We initially started work last July after more than a year of waiting for all the planning requirements to be fulfilled.

‘Then, we had issues with the contractor which meant halting work.

“However, a new contractor has been on-site now for the last couple of weeks and the shed is really starting to come together.

“The most important thing is the welfare of the herd and providing shelter in the summer when temperatures get extremely high and cause heat stress in the herd.”