Choosing Your Facility’s Location

By: Dr. Kip Lukasiewicz Production Animal Consultation

Selecting the site for the receiving, shipping, and processing facilities is often overlooked as an important consideration when planning the layout of your new feedlot or feedlot expansion or when relocating your existing facility.

Many times, pens and feeding facilities are built before determining the best location for receiving, shipping, and processing facilities. In this case, the best way to select a site for these facilities is to use an overhead view of your operation to evaluate the flow of cattle through the operation.

Facilities are often built so that the crew can be visually assessed from the office. However, this can be problematic because such locations are often in congested areas with high traffic that can interfere with the voluntary flow of cattle.

Cattle focus on one thing at a time; too much commotion and motion outside the facility will make cattle more fearful of or aggressive toward their surroundings.

Instead, the facility should be placed in an area that is central to your facility but somewhat on the perimeter of your operation. This makes the facilities easily accessed during receiving and shipping and also reduces distractions for cattle moving through the facilities.

Receiving and shipping facilities can be located with the processing facility as long as the two are separated to allow simultaneous operation without interference. For example, a single facility used for receiving, shipping, processing, and sorting might be designed so that shipping and receiving are carried out on one end of the facility while processing and sorting are performed on the other end. Tasks can be executed at both ends simultaneously without interference.

Above: Shipping or receiving can be performed simultaneously with processing in a properly-designed facility.Loculiusse, vicaesimum incerei senim ent, iae rem in det in sinempratam ina, mantisquod more

The site for permanent facilities should accommodate natural flow of the animals. Placing the facility in an area with limited commotion, typically away from the feed mill and office, will help build the confidence of the animal and improve voluntary movement through the handling facility.