How do you know if you don’t measure?
Brothers Peter and Richard Burbage are first generation farmers in Northamptonshire, the enterprise consists of 300 beef cows, 120 dairy cows, an AD plant and a large-scale contracting business.
Planning for the future, the brothers agreed that physically they could do no more to make the business go forward however they could ‘manage’ more, and the result, they agreed was automation as this would allow them to be as good as they can without being physically hands on all the time.
In 2021 they became the first beef producers in the UK to install an automated feeding system and they saw feeding-out and labour costs reduce by 75%!
This only confirmed their thoughts, investment in technology to maximise efficiency across the entire business is key.
In 2023 the business ventured into dairy, 120 milking cows now complement their farming system. This move meant a new silo was needed to store animal feed, they contacted Collinson to discuss options, it was during these talks that Andy Howard, their sales manager introduced them to FeedAlert silo monitoring and as Peter said of the digital technology, ‘It’s great, as how do you know if you don’t measure’
Feed on the farm is already stored in silos to maintain quality, although using a blend they agreed it can be a challenge guessing feed levels for reordering and so didn’t hesitate to include silo monitoring on the new silo.
FeedAlert can be easily installed on any silo, the sensor fits to the leg of the silo and monitors feed levels via the tension in the leg. Set-up involves taring the empty silo and then calibrating post delivery to set the scale.
The system is mains powered FeedAlert wasn’t set-up as initially there was no power in place, after the 3rd delivery they had a feed runout creating a shockwave affecting nutrition and behaviour of the herd over several days, never mind the hassle of arranging an urgent delivery.
Cross that the technology was actually sat there, an extension cable was run to power the system and after set-up they started monitoring feed levels. ‘It’s a revelation’ Peter said, ‘we’ve never run out of feed since!’
Feed levels are available to view via the free App, level alerts by text and/or email give a timely nudge to reorder. Peter continued...
“it is marvellous and It’s not just feed reordering it helps, it is a feed management system, it doesn’t just help with reordering, it’s way more than that, FeedAlert enables better feed management all round, access to the data means we can confidently run the feed as low as possible, we know nothing is sticking in the silo and continuously have fresh feed for the cows. We embrace things on the farm which make life easier and more efficient, and we’ve certainly embraced FeedAlert!”
Whilst in total control of their feed management, the team also choose to share their data with their nutritionist at Heygates, more eyes on the silo provides a belt and buckle approach and feed decisions can be made based on data.
Many farmers have feed delivered on a regular basis; weekly, biweekly, etc. etc. the reliable data produced by FeedAlert takes management to the next level and enables just in time delivery to keep feed fresh but with seven days’ notice for production purposes. Silo monitoring not only enables enhanced customer service, the data provided will, in time, aid a greener process, more efficient, less road miles with the reduced carbon footprint also being a win for the industry, with small contributions to the net zero goal, making a big impact.
The hardware is low cost and the level of control it offers farmers is remarkable.
This year will see a new silo coming to the farm and, of course, it will include FeedAlert.