Simple, But Very Effective

After three decades using the same feeding system, it is fair to describe Scots beef and dairy producer Gavin Barr as a feed box fan.  Peter Hill of Farmers Weekly reports:

“Keep it simple”.  That is Gavin Barr’s guiding principle for beef and dairy production on 80ha (200 acres) at Crawlaw, Galston in Ayrshire and one that extends to the way cattle are fed.

“We’ve used a forage box for dispensing rations for 30 years or more and it’s worked well for us” he says.  “I like to be self-sufficient as far as possible in all aspects of running the farm, and the simplicity of the machine helps in this respect, as it’s easy to use and not demanding as far as maintenance and repairs are concerned.”

The integrated beef and dairy operations run by Mr. Barr, his wife Catherine and their son Gavin, centre on a 120-head black-and-white-milking herd.  All replacements are bought in, with the emphasis on Fresian-type heifers that are put to Simmental and Limousin bulls to produce a supply of beef calves for fattening. “We’re working a low-cost system, producing for the commodity beef market with carcasses grading R4L, which we can achieve consistently,” says Mr. Barr.  “We’re fattening about 140 animals a year, all for Stoddarts at Ayr.”

Most of the farm is down to grass, producing two cuts for the clamp and a late third cut, which is baled.  With 12-16ha (30-40 acres) of spring barley providing bedding straw for the beef yards and grain for home-mixed dairy rations.  These are based on a protein concentrate that is also suited to beef animals. “Their main ration comprises clamp silage and Vitagold. mainly wheat grains from the William Grant distillery at Girvan,” says Mr. Barr.  “These two ingredients are dispensed using the forage box, with the concentrate going on top in the trough.”

“We’re feeding silage from October through to August, taking three loads a day for eight months and sometimes up to four a day at the busiest times when we have the most cattle about,” Mr. Barr points out.

“As a priority, we need a machine that’s going to stand up to that workload without too much maintenance or repair and is easy to take around the buildings.

“The forage boxes we’ve had over the years have served us well in all respects.”

The current machine, bought last year, is a 7.5 cubic metre Foster D750 – one of a range of sizes with different conveyor configurations built by Foster Sales Company, Beverley, East Yorkshire. With its traditional wooden body construction, twin horizontal auger type beaters, full width chain-slat floor conveyor and rubber belt cross conveyor, the feeder is built to a simple formula.

“The best way to get a good mix is to layer the feeds,” adds Mr. Barr.  “So we half fill the box with silage, add a layer of distillers’ grains and then top it off with more silage. “That way you get the two mixed together well and there’s no chance of catlle feeding selectively.”  This year, Gavin has included fodder beet into his rations, as part of a ‘sandwiched-load’ between silage and other ingredients.

Hydraulic drive to the floor conveyor makes it easy to adjust the feed out rate, while similar drive to the cross conveyor belt is reversible so it can dispense to either side. On all those models which can discharge to either side, so the speed of the cross conveyor belt can also be adjusted by Gavin from the tractor seat to provide easy and accurate discharge of the feedstuffs, e.g. into a trough or over a barrier, which also avoids unnecessary waste.  

“That’s a useful feature in the hay shed we converted for fattening because, although it’s open both ends, it’s handier to drive in just one direction and either back up – which my son Gavin tends to do – or go around again to lay silage both sides of the feed passage,” says Mr. Barr. “My cousin has a similar feed box, but with the conveyor across the back because he has a dead-end passage and you don’t want to be wasting trough space.”

Changing to a complete diet feeder has little appeal because the machines tend to be bulkier and finding storage space for different ration ingredients would be awkward among the current buildings. “Besides, they’re more complex and when there’s just me and my son with maybe 390 cattle to feed on a Sunday morning I like to know we can fix the machine if something goes wrong – which it’s bound to sometime,” argues Gavin Barr.

“I’m highly delighted with the system we operate at present and see no reason to change it.”

FORAGE BOX BENEFITS:

- Simple maintenance
- Easy to use
- Dispense both sides
- Manoeuvrability

For further details of products and dealers contact Foster Sales Company by email: sales@fostersalescompany.co.uk