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> Infomatic > User stories > Feeder computer
ensures the quality |
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 Feeder computer ensures the quality
At Kirstinesminde in the western part of Himmerland in Denmark a new wireless weighing system with built-in feed computer has become a central element in the attempt to optimize the feed consumption and thus the costs.
On the farm Kirstinesminde in the western part of Himmerland, Denmark, Rene Lund Hansen runs an all-round farm with milk production, pigs for slaughter and the cultivation of plants.
His dairy cows are held in a cattle yard which was built in 2003 and latest extended in 2008 and which now has the capacity for 460 dairy cows. Rene Lund Hansen has filed an application regarding extension, but for now the environmental approval is registered for 330 cows + young stock. The average yield for his herd is 9,900 kg EKM.
Besides working in the cow barn the 8 employees, who are employed at Kirstinesminde, are working with the yearly production of 10,000 pigs for slaughter, tendering of own fields as well as contractor work with liquid manure wagon, combine harvesters and big balers. |
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Drained bottom of a former bay and nice wheat fields
The farm has 630 ha for cultivation of plants 155 ha of these are leased. A large part of the area is situated in Nørrekær Enge, which is a 32 square meter large bay area which is drained to the Liim Fiord. It is an impressive engineering project which consists of no less than 62 km long canals which were excavated in order to lead the water to a pump house by the Liim Fiord. From here 3.2 cubic metres of water are pumped into the Liim Fiord every second.
The earth is very good for cultivation and at the moment you can see some fantastic wheat fields which – if we have a very warm and sunny summer – can give a yield of more than 10 tons per hectare. The dry spring and the warm summer in 2008 actually resulted in the fact that these areas gave a record yield of almost 14 tons per hectare.
With the cultivation of wheat on the former bay bottom, the maize fields on the high areas and the grass fields on humus soil a versatile plan showing fields and crop can be made which harmonizes with the various branches of operation. |
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The feeder’s technical solutions ensure the quality
When extending his cattle yard Rene Lund Hansen also bought a new feeder, a 45 cubic metre JF-STOLL Feeder.
”We bought almost all the equipment you can choose for the Feeder and we think it has been a good investment. Now it has been a couple of months since it was delivered and we are in full swing using all the functions. The wireless data transfer which is keeping track of the feed consumption via the feed computer helps streamline and keep track of the costs”, says Rene Lund Hansen, and he adds: “the mere fact that the weighing display is wireless and now is placed comfortably right at hand in the loader tractor is a comfort”.
“When we start working with the weighing program we type in a user code in order to obtain access to the system. This means that we can always find out how accurate each one of us is with the loading. If the precision fails we use our coffee break to discuss how potential deviations have occurred and what we can do in order to avoid them. This is all part of increasing our focus on the feeding quality”, he says. |
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Easy to maintain
According to Rene Lund Hansen it is important that the Feeder is robust and simple, and above all it must be easy to maintain. “There is no point in buying a Feeder which is difficult to maintain. You might be tempted to postpone or even skip the maintenance, because it is much too difficult”.
Rene Lund Hansen expects that the running costs of the new Feeder will be very low and that it will be robust enough to last for many years. These expectations are based on his experience with his old 19 cubic metre JF paddle mixer which he has used to feed his cows each day for the past 9 years without any repair costs. |
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Small tractor - big Feeder
When the cowman at Kirstinesminde drives off with the large 45 cubic metre JF-STOLL Feeder one would think that he is using one of the largest tractors on the farm. But that is not the case. A John Deere 6900 with 125 HP is really enough to handle the job. Directly asked Rene Lund Hansen explains: “Pulling the Feeder is no problem, even though the tractor seems quite small, but we are also very happy that we decided to buy the Feeder with a 2-speed gearbox that can be operated from the tractor seat via Electro-hydraulic gear shift, so that we can change gears according to need”.
“We also ordered the Feeder with two discharge doors on each side. This feature has some logical advantages which mean that we are saving quite some time. With the new Feeder we are probably all in all saving almost an hour on the daily feeding time. You don’t think much about it during the day, but when adding up the hours it is almost two months’ work for a full-time employee which has been saved”, says Rene Lund Hansen. |
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JF-STOLL . Kongskilde Industries A/S . Linde Allé 7 . DK-6400 Sønderborg . Denmark . Telefon +45 7412 5252 . Fax +45 7442 5808
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