Feed, lagoon and pit monitoring is reduced from two hours to 15 minutes a day.
August 1, 2019
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While hog farms focus on fattening hogs, operations are often leanly staffed with just two or three people. In the case of a major hog producer in Nebraska, just two employees manage four barns and eight feed bins, readying more than 5,000 head for market.
At this location each barn has two bins, used in tandem. Once one bin is emptied, feed is pulled from the second bin and the empty bin is scheduled for refill.
Before installing sensors and software, each bin had to be climbed and a tape measure dropped to estimate how much feed was in each bin. Climbing each bin, dropping a tape and recording the measurement back in the office could take up to 15 minutes per bin, or about two hours a day.
This had to be done almost every day — rain, snow or shine. Measurements were handwritten and manually recorded in a spreadsheet. The amount of feed on hand was then calculated by entering an estimate of the amount of feed remaining in each bin. Some days there just wasn’t enough time to get feed inventory done, which lead to a disconnect between the farm and the mill.
Goodbye tape measures, hello sensors
The biggest roadblock to automating bin measurements for this producer was that of many other hog farms: no power was available at the feed bins.
The solution? A battery-operated sensor from BinMaster that eliminates the need for wiring. Low-power laser level sensors are mounted on top of the bin through a hole cut in the roof. The laser is pointed at the feed near the outlet of the bin. The sensor automatically takes a measurement once an hour, sending data through a wireless gateway to a user-friendly system called FeedView. FeedView converts the distance to the feed remaining in the bin into tonnage and allows for tracking and reporting of feed intake, medicated supplements, head count adjustments and feed orders.
The producer’s goal was to save time and streamline the ordering process. The crew found the integration of level sensors and software made their operation more efficient. “With FeedView, I can reorder feed with confidence. We’ve eliminated most delivery emergencies and overfills, all without climbing feed bins … thanks to the wireless level sensors,” says the feed order manager.
Employee safety and measurement consistency are ensured by using automation instead of humans to do the work.