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Curt Dacar and his son, Marcus, got a rare chance to build a new ranch headquarters from scratch. There weren’t any existing buildings on the site they had purchased in Whitewood, S.D. It was a true “greenfield” design project.
The Dacars built a barn, shop and machinery storage building that are all connected and share the same roof line.
On one end of the facility is a 48-by-48-foot cattle barn with 14-foot-tall sidewalls.
On the opposite end of the facility is a 30-by-64-foot machinery storage building with 14-foot sidewalls.
Between the barn and machine shed is a 60-by-64-foot shop with 17-foot sidewalls.
Morton Buildings, Rapid City, S.D., designed and built the structures.
Inside features. The barn has custom-built cattle handling equipment inside. The equipment includes a sorting tub, alley, hydraulic chute, alleys and pens.
The heated, insulated shop has a work bay, space for parking the chore tractor in winter, a parts storage loft and a ranch office.
The machinery storage shed was initially constructed with an open side. But after seeing how snow drifted into the building, the Dacars enclosed the open side with two power lift doors.
Cattle corral. Off the end of the barn and around the back of the shop and machinery storage building is winter corral for their 230-head Red Angus cow herd. The pens have fence line feed bunks on and concrete feed pads.
With the cows in the lot over winter, it’s easier to keep an eye them, says Marcus, who lives on the site.
“We don’t worry about snowstorms either” he says.
The Dacars grind hay and feed it in the steel fence line bunks. They like feeding in the bunk better than feeding bales in ring feeders. There is less hay loss and they can closely track how much feed the cows eat.
Foundation system. The buildings were constructed with Morton’s new concrete column foundation system. None of the wood posts are in contact with the ground, which is important for structures exposed to mud and manure, says Bruce Saber, Morton Buildings’ Rapid City manager.
The Dacars are pleased with how their facility turned out. It cost less to build than three separate, free standing buildings because the barn, shop and storage shed share two common walls. It helps them run their new cattle enterprise efficiently.
“The setup is pretty handy,” Marcus says.
See the slideshow for an inside look at their new ranch headquarters.
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![Curt and Marcus Dacar posing for a photo in front of a building](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204A-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>FATHER AND SON: Curt Dacar (left) and his son, Marcus, are happy at how their all-in-one ranch headquarters turned out.</p>
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![Eye level view of the barn, shop, and machine shed structure](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204B-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>OVERVIEW: The Dacar’s new ranch facility, located in Whitewood, S.D., includes (from right) a barn, shop and machine shed.</p>
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![Aerial view of three different buildings sharing one roof line](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204C-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>THREE IN ONE: The three farm buildings share the same roof line, but the widths are different.</p>
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![A cement patio next to a building structure with a patio cover and a tractor next to large garagedoors](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204D-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>STYLE POINTS: A porch covers the doorway to the shop, and brick wainscoting adds style to the front of the building.</p>
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![Interior of a large shop with high ceilings, various tools, a pickup truck, and large garage doors](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204E-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>SHOP SIZE: The Dacar’s new shop measures 60 by 64 feet.</p>
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![A loft used for storage lined with metal shelving units filled with various tools and equipment](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204F-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>EXTRA SPACE: The Dacars use a shop loft along one of the walls to store shelves of parts and equipment.</p>
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![A storage shed housing tractors and machinery with two power lift doors](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204G-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>DRY STORAGE: The machinery storage shed is 30- feet by 64 feet. They originally built it as an open-sided shed. After seeing how snow drifted into the building, though, the Dacars enclosed it with two power lift doors.</p>
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![Interior of a cattle barn with a cattle chute and pens](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204H-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>CATTLE BARN: The 48-by-48-foot barn contains a cattle chute, alley, crowding tub and custom-built pens. The pens are generally used for calving.</p>
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![An bare office room with wooden floors, a metal shelf and a leather chair with doors that lead to a bathroom, a kitchen area, and the shop](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204I-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>OFFICE SPACE: At the front of the Dacar’s new shop is a farm office with some extra amenities.</p>
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![Curt Dacar leaning on steel bunks installed on pens](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204J-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>STEEL BUNKS: Curt likes the steel bunks made by Werk Weld, Armour, S.D., that they installed in pens outside the barn. The Dacars bring all the cows into dry lots for winter, moving them to pens closer to the barn as they get closer to calving.</p>
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![A building used to house cows during winter weather](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204K-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>WINTER PROTECTION: One of the other two buildings the Dacars built is a pole building to protect cows from the cold weather during the winter.</p>
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![A horse barn with an attached shed used for machine storage](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204L-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>ALL PURPOSE: The other building on site — across from the barn/shop/machinery — is a horse barn that has a machinery storage shed attached. It also includes a tack and feed room and a chicken coop.</p>
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![The Dacars' ranch sitting on a hill top and two horses grazing the pasture](http://www.farmprogress.com/sites/farmprogress.com/files/0720W-1204M-2000x1040.jpg)
<p>HILLTOP SITE: The Dacars’ ranch headquarters lie on the crest of hill on the northern edge of the Black Hills near Whitewood, S.D.</p>