There are many things to consider when building a new parlor. A dairyman needs to look at the size of the milking parlor he wants to build, how many cows he will milk and the amount of time he is willing to spend milking.

Farms may have the most diverse list of air curtain (or air door) uses than perhaps any other application. First used decades ago in industrial buildings for indoor-outdoor environmental separation at open doorways, air curtains on farms today are used for energy conservation, flying insect prevention, employee and livestock air comfort, productivity increases, supplemental heating and cooling, ventilation and other uses.

This article was #20 of the Top 25 most well-read articles on www.progressivedairy.com in 2014. It was published in the Nov. 1, 2013 Extra e-newsletter and April 1, 2014 print issue. LED lights have been used for decades, but more recently, new designs are making them suitable to light the way in place of incandescent, fluorescent and high-intensity-discharge lamps. The greatest advantages of LED lighting are the extended life span that reaches far beyond that of incandescent bulbs and better energy efficiency.

Somebody somewhere along the line once told me, “You’re either going to make monthly payments on a new machine, or you’re going to pay for parts and repair if you choose to depend on previously used equipment.”