The absolute control of the factors that intervene in the feeding processes is becoming more important every day and leads us squarely to precision feeding. Among these factors there are two very significant ones that can be controlled by weighing; feed intake and animal weight. Precision feeding involves reducing feed and nutrient waste by feeding only the precise amount needed to achieve optimal production. It is already being used extensively in the dairy industry, and was given high consideration during and after the 2012 drought that caused feeding problems for so many farmers. However, it also has applications in a wide range of livestock and poultry species. The process uses quality data management and recipe management to ensure that each animal gets exactly what it needs without wasting valuable resources that could be used elsewhere.
When precision-feeding systems are used, the amount of methane, a greenhouse gas linked to climate change, and nitrogen, the seepage of which can cause algae blooms in waterways or contaminate groundwater, are dramatically reduced . Reducing the loss of these two compounds helps directly reduce the impact of farming operations on the environment. Instead of slightly overfeeding animals to ensure good growth or production, whether in terms of feed quantity or quality, you can focus on providing your cattle with exactly what they need. This helps reduce the demand for feed and food waste, which in turn allows those assets to be used to meet other needs, such as biofuel production or human food.
At Tigsa, for years we have had different weighing and portion control systems using electronic or mechanical Roman load cells. We can place the electronic systems under the legs of the silos and know exactly how much feed is inside. We can control how many tons a truck has unloaded in the silo or predict when the next time we will need to fill it up. In the same way we can control the daily amount of feed that enters the warehouse or simply program defined rations.
On the other hand, we have live electronic weighing of animals inside the buildings that allow us to check day by day the evolution of fattening, analyze the evolution of growth, statistics, deviations, etc.
