Weighing farm animals is really important when it comes to making better, well-informed decisions but what provisions you need to make and what are the key benefits from making the investment? Understand more about the importance of weighing livestock with our brief guide.
Any farmer that takes on-farm productivity seriously when it comes to keeping and breeding livestock will recognise the importance that weighing animals plays. A weigh scale is therefore a vital piece of farm equipment. An investment in weighing is likely to be amongst the most important productivity investments a farmer can make.
Used properly, this equipment will help you start realising a return immediately, with the promise that over time there is great scope for delivering a substantial return on any capital invested. Good information is key to making the right, informed decisions and a weighing scale will always provide accurate data, much more so than assessing weight by eye, no matter how experienced the farmer.
Why Weigh?
Animal weight data isn’t just valuable today, it’s an investment for the future because the
larger the database of weights and liveweight trends you have for different classes of animals over a number of years, the better position you are in for competent future decision making.
Gathering and keeping historical data means you are able to make much more accurate predictions of future performance in your animals and also allows you to identify when issues may occur. This means you can take the appropriate preventative measures before they compromise performance.
A good example of putting data into productive action is worms. These can impact the liveweight gain of young animals at certain key times of the year. By gathering data each year and assessing your historical information you might be able to ensure you treat your animals just prior to being able to measure the effect of worms via slowing livestock weight gains.
BY harnessing data properly you are able to plan better on-farm and make better decisions before productivity losses occur, which will in turn improve profitability.
The Other Benefits of Weigh Scale Investment
There are lots of different benefits to investing in a farm weighing system for livestock. Weigh scale information, properly collated and assessed and harvested from the regular weighing of animals can:
Make it much easier to judge the best time to sell livestock, meaning you can maximise your potential returns on investment and minimise the risk of missing market specifications or expectations. It is also very handy being able to cross-reference livestock details and statistics such as dressed carcass weights on the UK government official website.
Regular weighing means you can establish easily whether your livestock are on track to meet liveweight targets, possibly in relation to the sale of finishing stock or the mating of heifers or hoggets.
Assist you in the process of making properly informed buying and selling decisions as well as assisting in the accurate valuation of individual animals. By understanding weights in relation to saleability and the livestock markets farmers are able to meet ideal weights in terms of gaining premium prices.
Having weight information is important in determining the health and wellness of any of your livestock. You may be able to detect signs of illness earlier than otherwise.
Monitoring liveweight regularly means you can optimise the production and management of pregnant and non-pregnant females as well as measuring and recording all weaning weights.
Weighing is invaluable when it comes to the evaluation of certain genetic differences in types, breeds or lines of animals. It can be used to aid the process of estimating genetic potential and Estimated Breeding Values (EVB).
Farmers are able to measure feed conversion to maximise their yield by measuring weight gain over time and comparing current and historical data.
By weighing regularly you can carefully and accurately manage animal weights prior to mating for better reproduction rates. It is also very useful for recording and measuring weaning weights at all the different stages.
If you decide to go the route of investing in weighing apparatus for your farm livestock it’s always worth speaking to an expert supplier to ensure you get the right equipment for your particular requirements.
Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/cow-cattle-horns-animal-beef-3383624/
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