Back To Black: 3 Ways Asphalt Paving Can Be Put To Good Use On Your Farm
When the average person thinks of a farm, paved surfaces don't immediately spring to mind, but for an industry that relies on bare soil to grow its crops and feed its liverstock it's surprisingly how much of a modern farm needs to be paved over to increase efficiency and productivity. While paved areas of farms are traditionally paved with poured concrete or concrete slabs, more and more farms are turning to both hot and cold mix asphalt for their paving needs, and this superlative paving material can be put to a wide variety of uses in almost any agricultural setting.
Cow tracks
Providing a safe, easy route by which your cows and other livestock can reach grazing areas is essential on larger farms, and allowing your livestock to travel long distances over unpaved trails can turn them into muddy, waterlogged quagmires that can breed disease and injure livestock attempting to traverse them. COnsequently, most farms that have significant distances between feeding or milking pens and grazing areas lay down cow tracks to make the journey as fast and safe as possible for their livestock.
Asphalt is an excellent material for constructing these cow tracks, as it provides excellent traction for hooved animals and its waterproof surface prevents standing water and mud from accumulating underfoot. The immense durability of a well-laid asphalt track allows it to bear the weight of hundreds of heavy animals without cracking or crumbling, and its smooth surface prevents trips and falls that can badly injure many heavier livestock varieties.
Staging areas
Even the most modestly-sized farm has need of heavy agricultural vehicles such as tractors and combine harvesters, and parking them in unpaved areas can lead to disaster, bogging down tyres and promoting rust during wet weather. A simple asphalt staging area, either sheltered or unsheltered, is a far more suitable place to park your heavy vehicles. As well as preventing wet ground from bogging down your vehicles, asphalt surfaces also make getting under your vehicles for maintenance purposes much easier, and prevent fuel leaks from contaminating your local soil and groundwater supplies.
Winter feeding pens
If you winter your livestock indoors, choosing a suitable flooring material for their indoor feeding pens is very important, and asphalt is one of the most versatile and widely used. Easily cleaned with pressure washers and hoses, asphalt floors in your winter feeding pens allow your pens to be kept as clean and sanitary as possible, and make removing rotting hay, silage, manure and other unpleasant substance much easier and faster.
