Working Ranch Magazine - Index

Working Ranch Magazine - magazine - Index

now that’s an improvement
BY JENNIFER SHOWALTER
The Weight Is Over
and a new generation of livestock scales has arrived
Today’s livestock scales aren’t what they use to be. The emphasis
put on animal identification in the past few years has really
taken scales to the next level. The new generation of units
are more like an electronic weighing tool combined with a
robotic secretary. Many of the scales on the market today do it all –
they take accurate weights, store the data in their memory, record identification,
and store other information which can then be downloaded
to the ranch computer in a matter of seconds.
PURCHASE WHAT YOU NEED
When ranchers and farmers are looking to purchase
scales, they need to take into consideration what it is they
want the scales to do. Todd Mach, Products Manager for
Gallagher, made the point, “Purchase what you need, and
will use. The average scales and indicator run around
$1,699 to $3,200. With the average herd size being 42 head,
it’s hard for many producers to justify spending that much
money when they only use the scales about twice a year.”
Gallagher load bars fit under any squeeze chute and can
work with just about any indicator, but Gallagher’s latest
advancement is a notebook-like data collection tool named
ernie™. The compact ernie™ helps to collect, file, and analyze
data and is completely compatible with EID. It can be
used for such things as an A.I. notebook, calving book, crop
monitoring book, and a pregnancy checking book.
Anything that ranchers typically write down and organize
or file can be put directly into ernie™, and then taken
home and downloaded easily to the primary computer.
The Chute Weigh product line is the latest
advancement for Avery Weigh-Tronix. The
new model 640 indicator, shown here
mounted to a Silencer chute by Moly
Manufacturing, can auto lock on the animal’s
weight, retain the number of animals
weighed, accumulate the total of all animals
run across the chute, and calculate
the average weight of the animals weighed.
Gallagher has designed ernie™ to be
portable and suitable for the roughest
outdoor conditions. “I had a vet looking
to purchase an ernie™ a while
back,” Mach recalls, “and he was questioning
the durability of it, so I put one
under a sink faucet and turned on the
water to show him how durable they
actually are. They are made to withstand
the conditions of day to day
farm and ranch life.”
KEEP IT ON THE LEVEL
Marvin Scott, Livestock Scales
Product Manager for Digi-Star, recommends
ranchers really take into consideration
the features of the loadcell, or
the actual weight bearing sensor, along
with the indicator. Many cattle chutes
do not sit on a perfectly level surface,
so it is important for the loadbars to be
able to accommodate for this factor.
Weigh bars used in the Digi-Star
Wrangler and ChuteMaster 6600 systems
incorporate a unique elastomer
design that compensates for off- level
or uneven conditions. As long as the
surface is firm, there will be no loss in accuracy. “Seriously
consider the load cells in your decision,” advises Scott. “They
literally ‘carry the weight’ in your scale system. Base your
choice on warranty, service support, as well as long term durability
and performance,” Scott recommends.
“Unlike the balance beam and dial scales of the old days,
our digital indicators today have microprocessors with software
that takes hundreds of readings per second and will
‘Lock On’ the animal’s weight even as the animal moves
around in or on the platform or chute,” says Scott. The
advanced EID Model Indicators offered by Digi-Star can collect
RFID tag IDs and store them for later export into a
spreadsheet or other data management software program
back in the ranch office.
BLUETOOTH HAS ARRIVED
Tru-Test, Inc. offers a complete line of digital indicators
and load bars that are typically sold separately, so producers
can purchase a system that best fits their operation. The
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2008 | WORKING RANCH | 23