Feeding Solutions

Feeding Solutions services are predominantly aimed at, but not limited to, the dairy industry. Our agricultural feeding systems also specialize in beef, piggery, poultry, and small livestock sectors, specifically focusing on feed handling, storage, dispensing, and processing solutions.

From feed arrival, to where it is presented to the animal, and everything in-between, we offer a comprehensive range of services and feeding systems.

As dairy farm operations have become increasingly advanced, the efficient feeding of livestock has become crucial to managing a profitable enterprise. With over 20 years’ experience within the livestock feeding sector, the feeding solutions team has the experience and expertise to guide our clients on the appropriate feed management system.

Feeding Systems

We install standard and/or customised feeding systems for both herringbone and rotary dairy parlours.

Herringbone / SwingOver Dairy Feeding Systems
Rotary Platform Dairy Feeding Systems

Feed Storage

We install and maintain feed storage solutions ranging from 3 tonne to 5 kilo-tonne capacities.

Feed Handling

We install rigid receiving (intake) auger systems, transfer systems, and flexi-auger systems ranging from 55 mm to 200 mm diameters. We also offer user-specific customised systems to suit all needs.

Feed Processing

We install customised milling plants, tailor-made to suit the user’s needs. Mixing and pelleting plants are also available.

Our in-parlour dairy feeding systems can be integrated with herd management software, such as Afimilk Advanced Dairy Management Solutions enabling extremely efficient, accurate, and automated feeding.

Load Cells and Display

Weight measuring gives a farmer a digital reading in his office as to the mass of feed in the silo.  

Controller

The brain of the feeding system is the link between herd management software and feeding hardware.
 
The feeding controller sends signals to the feeding system control panel. 

Rotary Feeding System Control Panel

The brain of the feeding system is the link controls, the physical operations of the overhead feeders, supply augers, and liquid dosing systems.

Dosing System

Liquid dosing systems are used to dose liquid additives with the feed, such as bloat oil, propylene glycol etc.

Milling Plants  

Milling plants are useful for receiving raw materials such as whole maize, which is stored in the feed silos and then milled before being fed in a parlour.

GrowSafe Feeding System

This system consists of an 8-node feed intake system (FI) and a 4-node in-pen-weighing system (IPW).

The FI system consists of 8 feed bins with load-cell integration and RFID capabilities for individual animal identification.

As with dairy herds, each animal is fitted with an RFID tag read by the feed node when the animal’s head breaches the framework to approach the feed. The system identifies the animal and tracks the exact quantity of feed consumed.

The IPW system consists of four nodes strategically placed around the water trough. These nodes also have integrated RFID antennas and load cells on each platform. The animal is identified as it puts its head through the framework to approach the water. 

The system then monitors each animal’s frequency and duration at the water trough and measures its front-half bodyweight. 

Using algorithms developed for all breeds over the past thirty years, it calculates total body mass with a high accuracy level. This aids in tracking and trending the weight gain and eliminates the need for multiple chute weigh-in sessions, thereby lowering the number of times the animals are stressed by running them through a race over a scale. 

The IPW nodes also have an integrated spray nozzle which sprays a dye onto the animals when needed. The system can verify each animal’s weight gain with the herd average and automatically spray-mark those growing below the trend; this aids in quickly identifying animals that could be sick or of a poor genetic group. 

All the information gathered at the nodes is transmitted to a base station computer for logging purposes, and Vytelle has a dedicated team of analysts who monitor the data on behalf of the customer.

We are proud to be affiliated with GrowSafe Systems by Vytelle and excited to have expanded into the beef feedlot sector.

Northfield Engineering has been actively involved in the Agri division since the early 1990’s.