Patz Success Story
"Push-Button TMR Feeding Saves Labor!"
Automating their feeding system allows Gord and Jo Mackay of Embro, Ontario, to milk 70 cows and farm 265 acres with the help of just one employee.
Because their children are still too young to contribute labor to this registered Holstein operation, automating daily chores is especially important for the Mackays.
All of their cattle under one roof in a curtain-sided barn contributes to labor efficiency. Most of the barn consists of free stalls for milking cows, dry cows, and heifers. There are also pens for calves as well as maternity pens.
"We started with a small free-stall barn in 1982 and expanded the barn twice plus adding a double-seven milking parlor," explains Gord.
A 120-foot Patz belt feeder in a feed bunk down the middle of the barn supplies the cows and heifers with Total Mixed Rations (TMR).
The belt feeder is loaded by Patz conveyors from a Patz auger TMR feed mixer. The stationary mixer sits in an uncrowded feed room that was added to the side of the barn. One whole side of the feed room is open to the barn. "We like to be able to watch the cattle as much as possible while doing chores," comments Gord.
Mixing Many Feeds
A 24 by 88-foot silo supplies hay silage, a 20 by 70-foot silo supplies corn silage, and a 16 by 68-foot silo supplies high-moisture shelled corn.
Other feeds going into the TMR mixer include distiller's grain, soybean oil meal, cottonseed, and alfalfa hay.
"When we got the mixer, we weren't feeding hay. But now I'm glad we got a mixer that can handle hay. We've had better herd health and less feeding problems since we have been feeding some hay," says Gord.
A feed company balances the TMRs for two groups of milking cows. With the 290-cubic-foot mixer, one batch is mixed for each twice-a-day feeding.
The feeding program produces an average of 73 pounds of milk per cow daily, or a rolling herd average of 22,265 pounds of milk. A computer system connected to the milking parlor records production for each cow, which is identified by a transponder.
Reliable daily performance from their feeding equipment is vital to the Mackays. They appreciate the service of their local Patz dealer, Embro Farm Systems.