Weighing serves as the foundation behind greater efficiencies and increased profits. Tru-Test weighing and EID systems are easy to use, durable and accurate.
They enabling you to systematically:
- Monitor average daily gain and body condition;
- Measure feed consumption and input costs;
- Accurately administer treatments and antibiotics;
- Identify poorly performing animals early on;
- Make better breeding decisions.
O’Donovan Engineering and Tru-Test, a New Zealand based company, have been working together for over 30 years.
O’Donovan Engineering has knowledge and experience of weighing and the equipment unlike anyone else in the Irish market. It doesn’t just sell Tru-Test; it stands behind it.
Tru-Test indicators are the fastest, most versatile, accurate and durable indicators on the market. All its indicators feature Superdamp technology, unique to Tru-Test, to record accurate weights quickly, even with the liveliest of animals.
Within 3-6 seconds, the weigh scales locks onto live weight. This technology is what sets Tru-Test apart; the ability to capture an accurate live weight.
O’Donovan Engineering has a weighing option for every animal, from a simple platform or mobile crate for cattle and cows, to a floating batch weigher for pigs and sheep.
There is also a drafter or turnover crate that weighs sheep, a lamb weigh, a horse weighing platform and much more.
Below is a short piece on each sector – beef, dairy, sheep and other livestock options. Pick your sector; read more; be informed; and farm smarter, not harder.
Beef
The Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot (BEEP) Scheme announced in this year’s budget is a €20 million fund which will introduce a €40/head payment for suckler farms who weigh stock in the scheme.
Why weigh? Variable feed costs, market prices and environmental factors make beef farming a challenging business to be in. Weighing replaces guesswork with facts, making it a powerful performance measurement tool for farmers.
The information provided by Tru-Test weigh scale indicators assists with critical decision making about feed, health treatments, weight targets and herd performance.
Along with this, there are so many benefits such as: optimum weight grade; identifying sick, lame or poor performing animals early; and improved breeding.
As a suckler farmer, with the incentives available like the TAMS II grant and the upcoming BEEP scheme – along with the management benefits to be gained – make it an easy decision for most. For more information, click here
Dairy
One of the toughest aspects of dairy farming is maintaining overall health for your herd.
Weighing allows you to better monitor the impact of changes in feed regime, better management of breeding performance – monitoring weight loss after calving and pick up on which cows are continuing to lose weight after the early lactation period – and to pick up on cows that are in the early stages of lameness or illness, which are not yet visible.
ElD weighing
EID tagging is becoming more and more common on dairy farms in Ireland, with automatic calf feeders along with auto drafters and robotic milking.
Electronic weight recording for heifers can be a particularly helpful management tool if they are underweight and you need to achieve a specific daily live weight gain to get heifer growth rates back on track after a difficult grazing season or for a target date for AI.
If you invest in Tru-Test weighing or EID equipment, it allows you to get an early warning of management or health problems on your farm.
You can weigh animals faster and more accurately; you get instant daily live weight gain figures to help you make decisions “on the spot” and completely remove guesswork.
It’s easier to monitor livestock weights over several seasons to help make improvements in management practices or genetics. For more information, click here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4ZXwBbKcJY
Sheep
Efficiency is the key to profitability in the sheep industry as margins are very tight. The cost of a tag will rise by about €1/head – not helping in this regard.
However, EID is not all bad; O’Donovan’s believes the added benefit will outweigh and drastically improve efficiency around the farm when dealing and managing animals.
EID makes it easier and faster to record animal information. Readers such as the XRS2 handheld tag reader can be used independently in pens out in the field to capture treatments, lambing, movements and other information.
Electronic tag readers can also be paired with the Tru-Test digital indicator to quickly identify animals when weighing. Electronic weighing has considerable benefits over analogue weigh scales.
Such benefits include:
- You can weigh animals faster and more accurately;
- You get instant daily live weight gain figures to help you make decisions;
- It’s easier to monitor livestock weights over several seasons to help make improvements in management practices or genetics;
- MiHub is a free, easy to use livestock management package free with Tru-Test equipment. It allows you to see your average daily weight gains, top and bottom performers and each animal’s individual performance and history.
June may bring an added cost, but EID tagging has a lot of benefits and can be utilised on farm. For more information, click here
Other Livestock options
Weight is the key indicator of health and performance in any animal.
As the leaders in manufacturing livestock handling equipment for 40 years, O’Donovan Engineering has been able to pair its expertise in design with the Tru-Test weighing and identification technology, to develop customised weighing solutions to meet individual customer requirements across multiple sectors – from shellfish to zoo animals.
Pig Batch Weigher
Its Pig Batch Weigher has the ability to do just that. It includes heavy-duty, overhead, Tru-Test XHD 10000 load cells and a floating platform to maximise the accuracy and life of the system.
Not only that, but there is any custom size or shape available to fit your specific needs, with a solid or plastic slat floor. For more information, click here
Horse Weigher
O’Donovan Engineering has a standard solution for weighing horses, which includes a rubber top cover on a platform to ensure animals will easily walk and stand on the surface.
Horse weigher
It can also offer customised solutions to fit individual breeder needs. For more information, click here
MiHub
The Tru-Test MiHub App is the new, free, online software system for Tru-Test weigh scales. It allows you to track and monitor your animal’s progress, by turning weighing session data into an easy to understand graphical summary.
The system is a series of graphs which allow you to easily compare each individual animal’s weight against their target weight to ensure that they are on track.
Along with this, you can review your top and bottom performers, giving you the ability to monitor average daily gain and body condition, measure feed consumption and input costs, identify poorly performing animals early on, and make better breeding decisions.
The key to MiHub is EID tagging; this will allow you to track each animal with ease and minimises the amount of entries needed to link the weight and animal.
This will help you capture the correct date with greater efficiencies. In a good crush system, an animal can be scanned, weighed and released in a matter of seconds.
For more on O’Donovan Engineering handling, weighing and EID options Click here
