A hollow bang on the side of the bin
The stockman bangs the side of the feed bin with his fist. It sounds hollow near the bottom. That means it is low, maybe a few days, maybe less. He tells the farmer at lunchtime. The farmer rings the mill in the afternoon, and the next delivery on that route is later than he hoped.
Across the farm there are several bins: cattle nuts, ewe rolls, calf pellets, a blend for the finishing cattle, perhaps minerals in bags. Each empties at its own rate, which changes as groups grow, as the weather changes, or as you change the ration. Nobody tracks any of it, so each bin is a surprise.
Why bins run low without warning
Feed bins give no signal until they are nearly empty, and the people using them are busy feeding, not measuring.
| What changes | Effect on the bin |
|---|---|
| Group size grows at calving or lambing | Usage rises without anyone noting it |
| Ration changed by the farmer or nutritionist | Usage per head changes overnight |
| Weather turns and grazing fails | Feed demand jumps |
| Mill lead times vary with the season | The same order needs more notice |
| Deliveries split between bins | Hard to know what each bin received |
The ordering itself is also informal: a phone call, a text to the rep, an online order on a portal. Nobody records what was ordered, what was delivered into which bin, and whether the invoice matched.
What an empty bin costs
An empty bin means stock short of feed, an emergency delivery at a higher cost or at an awkward time, or a switch to a different feed at short notice. The effect on the animals is a matter for you, your vet and your nutritionist. The admin side is that the situation was avoidable with better information.
Over-ordering has its own costs: feed going stale in a bin, cash tied up, space taken. Without a record of usage, you cannot tell whether the feed bill is going up because of price, numbers or waste.
Bin levels and usage you can see from the office
What we build is a feed stock record for each bin, with usage worked out and orders prompted in good time.
- Each bin is set up with its feed, its capacity and the groups it feeds.
- Levels come from quick readings: a phone photo of a marked sight gauge, a level estimated from a painted scale, or bin weigh cells or level sensors if you have or want them. Whatever the source, the reading is dated.
- Deliveries are recorded from the mill's delivery note, with the tonnes into each bin, so levels jump when feed arrives.
- Daily usage per bin is worked out from the readings and deliveries, and adjusted when group numbers change in your livestock records.
- Each bin shows days of feed left at current usage. When that falls below the mill's lead time plus a margin you set, the farmer gets a prompt to order.
- Orders are recorded when placed, deliveries are matched to orders, and invoices are checked against deliveries, flagging differences in tonnes or price.
Where feed comes from more than one supplier, or a blend is mixed on the farm from straights in a shed, the same approach works: each store is a 'bin', and the mixer wagon's loads, if you record them, take stock off each ingredient.
Group usage is also shown per head per day, which gives you and your nutritionist real figures to talk about, rather than what the ration sheet says should happen.
Ordering before the bang goes hollow
Before any of this starts, we sit with whoever feeds and ask how they would most like to give a reading. Some prefer a photo, some a tap on a slider marked in quarters, some would rather have a sensor and never think about it. The system works with rough readings as long as they are regular, and it gets more accurate as deliveries confirm what went in.
On Monday the stockman takes a photo of each bin's gauge as he feeds. The record shows the cattle nut bin at eight days' feed, with the mill needing five days' notice, so the farmer gets a prompt that evening. The order goes in Tuesday, with a note in the record. Friday's delivery is recorded against the order, and the invoice the following week matches.
When lambing starts and the ewe rolls bin empties faster, the usage figure rises and the prompt comes earlier, without anyone having to think about it.
Does your feed ordering work like this?
- Bin levels are checked by banging the side or climbing up.
- Orders are placed when someone notices a bin is low.
- You have had emergency deliveries or switched feeds at short notice.
- Nobody knows daily usage per group.
- Feed invoices are not checked against what was delivered.