“We feed around 180 tonnes every day, with rations based on grass and maize silage, plus concentrates,” explains Miles Oakley (pictured). “Every day, we produce nine mixes for milking cow groups, two mixes for dry cows and three pre-mixes.”
Supplied by Battlefield Machinery, the 30 cubic metre capacity, twin auger, twin-axle feeder arrived on farm in October 2021. In little over four years of constant use, the Siloking 3022 has mixed close to 300,000 tonnes of rations.
It’s an intense workload, and one that proves the robustness and engineering excellence of the German-made diet feeder.
“There’s no doubt that we’ve enjoyed some fantastic reliability from the Siloking feeder,” he says. “Yes, there’s been some wear and tear which is to be expected given the tonnages we mix, but overall, we’re really pleased with the performance, productivity and feed ration quality.”
With a herd average of 12,600 litres, milk quality is achieving 3.6% protein and 4% butterfat.
“Our objective is to provide a high-quality ration that delivers the same consistency with every mouthful for every cow, all day, every day,” he says. “And that’s right where we are.”
Of the 180 tonnes mixed daily, Miles says 135 tonnes are discharged using the front cross-conveyor, with 45 tonnes of pre-mix emptied through the left-hand rear door.
“Without Silonox, we would have had to endure a lot of downtime to repair and maintain high-wear areas,” says Miles. “And because it takes around five-to-six hours to feed our herd, we just don’t have time to accommodate complex repairs. Far better to have durability built-in.”
Silonox is a wear-resistant, stainless steel alloy that can extend the service life of Kverneland Siloking feeders. Offering a high resistance to corrosion, acid and chemical wear, Silonox also offers extreme resistance to mechanical wear from the physical mixing process. And it can be added to high-wear areas of the hopper and also the vertical mixing augers.
Such durability and reliability has given the Oakleys the confidence to move its feeding regime up a gear, as a 27 cubic metre Kverneland Siloking self-propelled model is arriving in Spring 2026. Like the trailed 3022 model, it too will be dressed in Silonox.
“With a milling head that can start the processing, we’re looking for a yield increase from the switch to self-propelled, along with a reduction in feeding times,” he says. “And we’ll be saving 2,200 hours/year on tractor hours, and our telehandler replacement policy should extend from two to five years.”
Miles adds that the trailed machine isn’t yet worn out, and it will be re-purposed on a smaller livestock unit where it will prepare fewer mixes.
“While the service and support we get from Battlefield Machinery is fantastic, keeping our trailed machine as a back-up is a no-brainer, should we ever need it,” he says.
