Ballycastle suckler beef and sheep producer Jack Christie is in the process of converting an old quarry into a 60’ by 30’ silo. He normally takes two cuts of grass silage each, with both put into a clamp.

“Spring is a very busy time on the farm with both the cows calving and the ewes lambing,” Jack explained.

“So the autumn and winter months provide an opportunity to get on with building and repair jobs around the farm.

“The new silo is directly adjacent to all the main farm buildings. Its convenient location will represent a significant step forward in feeding the stock on the farm throughout the winter months.”

Significantly, Jack opted to use (4’)1200mm x 150mm(6”) pre-stressed wall panels when it came to putting the walls of the new 3.6m (12’) high silo in place, Moore Concrete manufactured, supplied and then installed the panels on site.

He explained:

“The RSJs were put in place initially. Moore Concrete then came out to take measurements and made the panels to fit, which really sped up the installation. It only took the Moore Concrete team two days to put the walls in place.

“Had I gone for poured walls, the entire process might well have taken weeks. In addition, didn’t want to take the risk of curing concrete during the cold weather.

“The biggest obstacle was location, as the silo is built in a quarry there is no room to safely have anyone working between the silo and the quarry walls. Thankfully, the pre-cast concrete panels allowed us to build the silo quickly, easily, and most important of all – safely.

“Now the panels are installed and sealed, all we need to do is get the floor finished and we are good to go.

“The plan is to have the new silo fully operational for the 2022 silage season.”

Moore Concrete’s Conal McMahon was a recent visitor to the Christie farm.

He confirmed that pre-cast concrete panels are now a very popular method of construction for a number of reasons.

“The significant time saving along with comparative traditional construction costs, has led to pre-stressed wall panels being a very popular choice by farmers across the country.