Back to segment overview

Dairy Barn Ventilation: Ensuring Optimal Climate for Productive Cattle

A pleasant barn climate is essential for maintaining healthy and productive dairy cattle. Especially when outside temperatures rise, effective barn ventilation becomes crucial. Using the right agricultural fans can help prevent heat stress and ensure a productive environment.

Multifan dairy fan installed above the stalls of a dairy barn

Maintain Milk Production with Effective Circulating Fans

An optimal living environment for dairy cattle hinges on a well-ventilated barn. Effective barn ventilation, including cattle barn ventilation, is particularly important at high temperatures to prevent heat stress. When temperatures exceed 22°C, cows tend to eat less, which leads to decreased milk production. Other effects of heat stress include fertility problems, reduced resistance, and a higher risk of mastitis.

To combat these issues, circulating fans, such as livestock fans and high volume low speed (HVLS) fans, can blow refreshing air around the cows. This reduces the apparent temperature and safeguards your cattle's milk production. A minimum air velocity of 2 m/s is essential to achieve this cooling effect.

Fans for dairy cattle

Modern, highly productive dairy cows require optimal climate conditions year-round to reduce heat stress in dairy barns. We offer a diverse range of Multifan and EMI fans designed for barn ventilation. Our Dairy Fan (basket fan) has been specifically developed for dairy barns. With its high throw and high air output, this fan maintains a minimum airspeed of 2 m/s over a long distance, making it ideal for barns with lower ceilings when paired with smaller basket fans.

Inside of a dairy barn with Multifan dairy fans

Ceiling Fans for Milking Parlors

Our ceiling fans are perfect for milking parlors, creating a pleasant vertical air displacement around the cows. This results in less heat stress and fewer issues with flies, contributing to overall cow comfort and productivity.

Tube Ventilation

In addition to the aforementioned solutions, tube ventilation is another option for barn ventilation. This mechanical ventilation system uses a wall fan to suck fresh air from outside and distribute it throughout the barn through a tube with holes, ensuring that fresh air is delivered to the dairy cows at low speed.

Naturally Ventilated Barns

In naturally ventilated barns, sidewall openings and other natural ventilation methods can be used to enhance the flow of fresh air, maintaining adequate ventilation rates. However, when natural ventilation is insufficient, mechanical ventilation systems like circulating fans and HVLS fans become necessary to ensure the prevention of heat stress and maintain milk production.

By integrating these various ventilation strategies, including agricultural fans, barn fans, and effective cattle barn ventilation systems, dairy farmers can effectively manage the effects of heat stress, ensuring a healthy and productive environment for their cattle.

Video on cooling dairy cattle using the Multifan dairy fan

Our fans for dairy barns

Ventilation and circulation fans for healthy and productive dairy cattle

Multifan Basket Fan for circulation in dairy farm barns
Basket fans

Our Basket fans is the most popular choice for dairy barns. These fans are ideal for creating a cool airflow and preventing heat stress.

  • Available in a variety of diameters
  • Widely applicable
  • High throw and air output
Basket fans
Multifan Ceiling Fan for circulation in dairy barns
Ceiling fan

The ceiling fan is extremely suitable for mixing warm upper air in a building with cold lower air.

  • For a cooling effect
  • Save on heating costs
  • For high spaces
Ceiling fan
Multifan Mobile Fan for ciruclation in dairy barns
Mobile Fans

Fresh air wherever and whenever you want. Our mobile fans are easy to move around the dairy barn.

  • Available in a variety of designs
  • High air capacity
  • For extra cooling on hot days
Mobile Fans
Multifan Horizontal Circulation Fan for dairy barns
Horizontal Circulation Fan

This fan recirculates air over a long distance, quickly creating a uniform indoor climate. Can also be used to create air movement in your dairy barn.

  • Available in a variety of designs
  • For high temperatures and humidity differences
  • Optional misting system
Horizontal Circulation Fan
Multifan Panel Fan for ventilation in dairy barns
Panel fans

The all-round fan that, in most cases, is positioned within the wall to ventilate dairy barns.

  • Available in a wide range of diameters
  • Resistant to corrosive environments
  • If desired, also suitable for circulation
Panel fans

Basket fans prevent heat stress in cows

Farmer Dries Lahousse from Elverdinge is active in arable farming and breeds poultry, but also owns a dairy barn housing 170 cows. Amongst those are also several older animals that have already produced more than 100,000 liters of milk. In order to maintain production throughout the year for all cows, including the oldest ones, he recently invested in basket fans, for extra cooling on top of the natural ventilation. 

Dries’s barn consists of two parts, one measuring 50 by 18 meters and the other measuring 40 by 26 meters. “It is not a big barn, considering it’s housing so many animals, and the orientation isn’t optimal, which can rapidly lead to high temperatures in the summer months”, says Wout Goderis of Goderis CowCompany. “However, it is too large to use a tube ventilation system efficiently. That’s why we have opted for seven big basket fans above the stalls, that start automatically when the barn temperature rises too much.”

Read full case study
Ask our dairy cattle specialist for more advice

Ask your question to our dairy cattle specialist!

If you have any questions about ventilation in dairy barns or if you want to know more about the solutions we have to offer, please contact us and we will be happy to help you!