FIRM
WINS 1.4M DEAL
Article from the Bendigo Advertiser
A BENDIGO company has won a $1.4 million contract
to provide a world-first ecological animal shelter for a North Queensland
piggery. Redpath Ideal Greenhouses is supplying 'Ecoshelters' to the major
Queensland pork producer as part of a $15 million project. The order is
the largest ever secured by the company and has resulted in the employment
of two extra full-time staff. Other Bendigo businesses will also benefit
from the contract. Redpath sales manager Glen Reidy said the Ecoshelter
was a genuine Bendigo product. "Most of our materials are supplied to us
locally. The steel comes to us locally and the covers are supplied by Bendigo
companies,'' Mr Reidy said. The Ecoshelter is an alternative form of animal
housing developed by Redpath Ideal Greenhhouses in conjunction with the
Median Research Centre in South Australia. Redpath is the only dhlicensed
manufacturer of the EcoShelter in Australia. Mr Reidy said while the shelter
was designed as a form of low-cost animal housing, research had shown it
to be better than traditional piggeries. ``The animal has fresher air,
cleaner air, less humidity, and they're drier. The animals grow quicker
in that environment,'' he said. The Ecoshelter has also proved to be more
environmentally friendly than conventional animal housing methods. ``It's
a straw-based system,'' Mr Reidy said. ``As straw is used, more straw is
added until the growing cycle is complete. ``The animals are then removed
and the straw taken out and sold as compost. ``There's no effluent, nothing
goes to waste.'' Redpath Ideal Greenhouses is now looking to expand overseas.
Mr Reidy said the company had held discussions with firms in China, New
Guinea and the UK. ``With the Australian dollar the way it is and a lot
of European countries trying to build their herds back up (after the mad
cow disease crisis), we see big opportunities overseas,'' he said.
13.9.02
