Hoop Buildings for Cattle

NDSU Extension livestock specialist John Dhuyvetter explains the advantages of using hoop barns to finish cattle. Hoop style buildings are gaining popularity for reducing the effect of environment on feedlot cattle. Cattle performance can be better since wind and snow protection is provided in the winter and shade in the summer with hoop barns.

WORTHINGTON, Minn. -- To Adam Blume, the hoop barn is security. When he returned from college in 2006 to his family\'s farm, Blume Grain and Livestock in rural Worthington, he didn\'t want to take on the risks of renting ground to make a living.

AMES - A recent survey shows hoop barns for beef cattle production are becoming more common in Iowa, offering benefits for the environment. The survey was by Mark Honeyman, interim director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and professor in Iowa State University's Department of Animal Science, and Jay Harmon, professor in ISU's Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.