“With remote access to different rations when loading, the whole process is much more efficient,”
With the emphasis on finishing 2,000 head of beef each year for Morrisons, Michael Wilson is keen to ensure liveweight gains achieve 1.5kg/day.
“We feed a variety of mixes to our cattle, which can include baled and clamp silage, straw, potatoes, minerals and processed grain,” he says. “Through the winter, we’re feeding around 15 loads each week to over 1,200 head, at five different farm locations.
So this has to be a quick and efficient process.” Farming 2,000 acres from Clochan Farm, Auchnagatt in Aberdeenshire, AT Wilson has recently invested in a replacement Siloking mixer wagon from HRN Tractors, to improve productivity and reduce feeding times.
“Feeding had been done using a smaller 22 cube Siloking model, which had been very reliable and it produced a great ration,” he says. “We just needed more output, so we bought a 26 cube Premium 3022 model – it’s a simpler, but larger, twin-auger trailed machine.
” He says that in addition to homegrown forage, all grain produced from Clochan Farm’s 1,300 acres of combinable crops is also consumed by the beef herd. “We do process a lot of wheat and barley for use in the rations, so we opted for a central rear door to allow processed grains to be stockpiled ready for mixing into rations,” he says. “We don’t need a cross-conveyor either, so having a wide feed door on both sides of the wagon makes it easy to drop feed at the barriers.”
“And it does empty so much quicker and easier, thanks to its wide doors.” Specification also includes a Bluetooth in-cab controller in the cab of the telehandler. “It’s a much better machine all round, and with remote access to different rations when loading, the whole process is much more efficient,” he says. “Our previous Siloking was so good, that I just didn’t think about buying any other mixer wagon.”
