[AT] Weighing feed ingredients (Metering)

[Indiana Robinson]

On 18 Mar 2005 at 16:26, Greg Hass wrote:

> Don't know the "official version", but here's my version:
> 
> I assume you are referring to metering ingredients by volume instead of by 
> weight.  About 20 years ago I purchased a Clay meter/mill.  It was 
> electrically driven and had 4 variable rate augers to mix in 4 ingredients 
> at one time.  The idea was to weigh the ingredients for a given amount of 
> time and then calculate the setting so that they would be mixed in the 
> right proportions.  This process worked OK for several years but things 
> began to change.  Initially I would grind corn and add a complete 
> supplement.  By this time it had become more economical to buy soybean meal 
> as the base ingredient and mix in various mineral pacs to provide the 
> mineral requirements for the various hogs being fed.  Most of these were 
> only mixed at a rate of 50 lbs./ton so it became harder to calibrate for a 
> small amount.  Also I was mixing as many as 4 kinds of feed in one day, 
> making it very difficult to keep switching the types of mineral.  Another 
> problem was that the loads of soybean I was purchasing were varying widely 
> in ther density, further throwing off the calibration.  Soybean meal price 
> shot up to over $400/ton so that if you were off as little as 20 lbs/batch 
> it was costing you either $4 too much or your ration was incorrect.  I 
> finally decided I needed a feed mixer and scale.  I ended up purchasing a 
> mixer from a guy that was selling them at the National Machinery Show.  The 
> one I bought mixes 500-lb. batches and will fit on the platform of a 
> standard 1000-lb. platform scale.  I still used the original Mix/mill for 
> grinding, however the metering augers were only used to regulate the flow 
> of grain into the hammermill.  It was amazing to note the variation between 
> loads of feed.  The mixer has windows every so far so you can see the level 
> of the feed.  On a 500-lb batch I have noticed as much as 4-inches 
> difference in the height of the feed in the mixer due to differences in the 
> load of corn.  Also some of the newer way was too put wormer in the batch 
> of feed.  Due the small amounts required it was almost impossible to meter 
> that small an amount into the batch.    In summary, with margins getting 
> tighter, feed and supplements getting more expensive, and government 
> regulations becoming more stringent, one must almost weigh the feed to get 
> an economical ration.
> 
> Greg Hass



	Great information Greg. I did notice that you failed to mention which farm enterprise we 
should be in to make us a good living without all the complications...   ;-)   Seems to 
be a real shortage of those...
	You grow a lot of edible beans if I recall correctly and raise hogs. Assuming that if 
for some reason you were to start over tomorrow that you would still farm... If you could 
pick and choose and had the money what crop/critter (if any) mix would you pick?

-- 
"farmer", Esquire
At Hewick Midwest
      Wealth beyond belief, just no money...

Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish Highlands,
Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana. Here 100 years 
before the revolution.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net