The Dean family increases cattle comfort and rate of gain with two new buildings.

Austin Keating, Associate Editor, Prairie Farmer

July 12, 2019

3 Min Read
beef cattle at trough
WINDY: Monoslope barns feature a feeding area upfront and a raised bed of compost in the back. The compost gets dried off by gusts of wind, funneled by a slope in the roof.

At Dean Bacon and Beef in LeRoy, Ill., cow comfort is the priority. That’s why the farm converted its old mud lots to pasture and invested in two new barns in 2015: a finishing lot and a cow-calf monoslope barn.

That investment is paying off. On a 95-degree-F day at the beginning of July, the cattle herd was quiet, calm and relaxed, thanks to optimal airflow through the precisely engineered structures. The finishing lot has the capacity for 600 head, while the cow-calf lot holds 180 bred cows or pairs.

“They’re cooler in there than we are out here,” says cattleman Derek Dean as he talks outside the cow-calf lot. He manages the cattle operation with father, Rick Dean. It’s part of a larger grain operation with family members Randy and Brack Dean, as well as Rick’s wife, Barb, and Randy’s wife, Chris.

Built by Longhorn Cattle and Swine Confinement Systems, the cow-calf monoslope barn stays open to the elements year-round. It’s 450 feet long and 62 feet wide. Along with a finishing building that’s 300 by 47 feet, the cow-calf barn is angled toward the south so strong winds gust through and dry out the beds of composting manure, corncobs and stalk bales.

“The more airflow you’ve got, the drier it is. The drier it is, the more comfortable they are,” Derek says, noting the 27-foot-tall roof on the south side angles down to 17 feet on the north end in the cow-calf barn, creating better airflow.

They scrape the concrete alley where cattle feed every week, but leave the rest of the space to be cleared out once a year, so the area builds up and creates a comfortable yet dry mat. Energy from the composting effect under the mat helps keep calves warm through Illinois winters.

The sun shoots rays into the barn in the winter, and barely peeks in during the summer, adding to cow comfort.

“Building these was quite a process, but well worth it — especially this spring with all the rain and cold weather,” Rick says, adding that they have comfortable rubber mats and a large fan in their feedlot barn.

Rick and Derrek Dean

FAMILY: Rick (left) and Derek Dean operate Dean Bacon and Beef in LeRoy, Ill.

The Deans also built a commodity barn with four bays in 2015. With this structure, they’re able to buy feed in bulk when it’s being sold at cheaper prices and store it away from rain.

“We’re using our own grain and adding nutrition from the ethanol industry — [dried distillers grains], gluten meal, germ meal and a syrup product,” Rick says, referring to corn condensed distillers solubles. “The ethanol byproducts really enhance our rations.”

When asked how their efforts on cow comfort and nutrition are panning out, Derek concludes, “We’re getting really good rate of gains. We’re putting 3.5 pounds on a day from the time they’re weaned to the time they go out. They are marketed around 1,400 pounds.”

About the Author(s)

Austin Keating

Associate Editor, Prairie Farmer

Austin Keating is the newest addition to the Farm Progress editorial team working as an associate editor for Prairie Farmer magazine. Austin was born and raised in Mattoon and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in journalism. Following graduation in 2016, he worked as a science writer and videographer for the university’s supercomputing center. In June 2018, Austin obtained a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where he was the campus correspondent for Planet Forward and a Comer scholar.

Austin is passionate about distilling agricultural science as a service for readers and creating engaging content for viewers. During his time at UI, he won two best feature story awards from the student organization JAMS — Journalism Advertising and Media Students — as well as a best news story award.

Austin lives in Charleston. He can sometimes be found at his family’s restaurant the Alamo Steakhouse and Saloon in Mattoon, or on the Embarrass River kayaking. Austin is also a 3D printing and modeling hobbyist.

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