IDEAS AND INNOVATIONS MARCH Feed easy: Ben Creek’s sheep feeder can be operated from the vehicle cab. Photos courtesy Ben Creek
Next level sheep feeding
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IFI capabilities can make many things easier on the farm and Ben Creek, Boyup Brook, Western Australia is using the wireless technology to help with his sheep feeding. The wireless set up is called Target Control and is supplied by Eagle Eye Engineering at Brookton in WA, who Ben has been working with to develop improvements for the sheep feeder. Ben farms with his wife Esther and son Theo and together they run 8000 Merinos
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Farming Ahead March 2022 No. 362
of 20-21 micron wool diameter. The Creeks also crop canola, barley oats and lupins. Ben said the Target Control system can be run from his phone and he can program how much is to be delivered. “If you want to feed 1kg per head, for 500 ewes for example, then you just plug that into the app on your phone and off you go.” The feeder trailer is fitted with load cells and with the app, all data can be recorded and exported to an Excel file.
The 3.5 tonne capacity feeder has a 60:40 split bin and an electric clutch to help with loading on the auger. “It can be used for containment feeding into troughs and we have also used it for augering some canola seed into bulk bags.” Nice work with the sheep feeder upgrades Ben. If you have an Idea and Innovation for the Farming Ahead magazine, email a photo and some details to contact@kondinin.com.au or text it to 040 111 FARM (040 111 3276).
www.farmingahead.com.au
