Farmers looking to technology to stretch scarce fodder reserves
Sales of winter feeding equipment are booming with long waiting lists for some diet feeders, reports
SALES of winterfeeding equipment like diet feeders and straw blowers have been absolutely flying, according to industry sources from the Irish machinery trade.
It appears farmers are looking to technology in a bid to stretch existing fodder and bedding reserves. In a normal year business wouldn’t start for diet feeders until after the Ploughing Championships, but this year some machinery dealers had already started selling diet feeders in July. One supplier told me recently that lead times for diet feeders are currently pushed out to March 2019 delivery, such is the demand.
If you are on the market for a new or second-hand diet feeder, there can be a lot of confusing terminology out there. You need to know the ins and outs of what type of feeder will suit your particular farm.
You also need to have at least a rough idea of what the cost of running the feeder will be each year, otherwise the tactic of using a mixer wagon to stretch feed resources will backfire spectacularly through hidden costs. The cost is perhaps best worked out on a per animal basis and will depend on the initial price of the machine, the annual depreciation and maintenance costs, and the length of time you intend to keep the feeder for ( see Table 2).
THE BASICS
Farmer-spec diet feeders can be crudely classified as being from one of two camps: they use either a paddle or tub design to chop and feed the ration mix. In recent times there has been a few sales of bigger self-propelled style feeders, but these are only financially viable in the biggest feed lots in the country.
A typical wagon has three main components: floor conveyor, mixing system and the unloading conveyor. Feed discharge location and height is important when choosing a wagon to match a feed passage. If you are looking to buy a mixer wagon, there are certain things to look out for. Be sure to ask your dealer the following questions:
Where is it made? (Buy Irish if possible)
• What is the required horsepower to drive the mixer wagon?
Can the machine handle a wide range of feeds?
• Is the discharge to the rear, front left or right? Can this be changed?
Is there a two-speed gearbox in the machine for mixing heavy loads?
Is the machine designed in a way that minimises the occurrence of dead spots (places where concentrates and other components of the ration can linger)?
Does the machine come with an on-board weighing system?
What about lighting set up for dark winter road journeys?
• Will the unloading height of the wagon be suitable for my feed bunkers?
• What is the service interval and what are the maintenance costs involved?
THE HORIZONTAL AUGER FEEDERS (PADDLE FEEDERS)
The paddle type mixer can be thought of as being a horizontal auger feeder. These are a very common sight throughout Irish farmyards. Typically, these feeders will have a length that is three times their diameter. The horizontal auger feeder is more suitable to the farmer who has easy to access sheds and wide passages that can be entered from either end. It also offers bigger capacity and is favoured by those with larger number of mouths to feed.
This type of wagon gets its name from having a big, horizontally mounted central rotor. The rotor generally turns at low rpm, lifting and turning the material and moving it from one end of the machine to the other. This mixing system requires less horsepower than other designs and produces a lighter resultant feed.
For an average sized horizontal auger feeder (say 12–14 cubic metre capacity) you will need to have a 100 horsepower tractor.