• Feeding Savings
more dollars over feed cost
• Improve Herd Health
• Simple installation
Efficient
feeding =
Higher PROFITS
Group feeding is costly and inefficient.
To maximize your profits, you’ve got to
supply each cow with the exact amount
of feed she needs to maintain her milk
production level. The computerized Sei
ecutive 8085 System lets you do just tha
most dairymen find the system pays for itself in reduced f
feed bills and increased production in less than a year!
it's simple
You determine a daily feeding allowance for each cow by programming
the computer to dispense a certain amount of feed during each 6,8 or 12
hour cycle. You choose a unique ration for each animal by mixing sup
plement and base rations with the computer.
• Each cow wears an inexpensive, reliable identification tag.
• Cows can feed at any feeding station.
• Feeding auger automatically stops when cow steps away.
• Each cow receives only the amount of feed you have programmed for it.
Money-saving management tool
You can get a printout from the Executive 8085 at any time. Each print
out gives you the valuable feed management information:
• Amount of feed programmed for
each cow
• Amount of feed dispensed to each
cow, this cycle
• Amount of feed dispensed to each
cow, this month
• Summary of previous cycle.
You can quickly spot problem cows
by asking the computer to print out
all cows not eating 75% of their pro
grammed ration.
Total herd management system
For a total dairy management system, connect your Selective Feeder
System with our Zenith Farm Management System. Readouts are
available in your office on the Zenith computer. Optional software
programs allow you to integrate health, breeding, production and
feeding management programs in one computer system.
For more information write for free product literature.
SOLD & SERVICED BY:
MARTIN EQUIPMENT CO.
® .Selective c<>
Fee de r
P.O. Box 219
Chambersburg, PA 17201-0219
717-263-3505 ASK FOR DON MARTIN
• Program Each Cow to receive the
amounts of feed as compared to
production
• Easy To Operate
t* A
Look for the
“REAL 5 Seal on Milk
-« r Oairj?
Business
Newton Bair
Now, About Those Computers:
Lately there has been an almost
constant stream of articles, in
formation and propaganda about
the use of computers in
agriculture. They almost make one
feel quilty if you are not one of the
‘early adopters’ of the computer as
a farm tool. Well, I have no in
tention of making anyone feel
guilty of inferior. But to keep the
record up to date, let’s look at what
is happening.
Just like the telephone of eighty
years ago, or the Fordson tractor
sixty or more years back, most
farmers want to wait until there is
plenty of evidence that they really
need one. Or that this new tool will
do something better, faster, or
more thoroughly than the old way.
The computer won’t ever replace
good judgement or even good
common sense. But we have to look
at some of the things it can do that
would be very difficult or nearly
impossible any other way. And
since there are plenty of dairymen
and other farmers who have
already begtm to use them, we can *
get a good idea of how and why
they are using computers.
First, we soidd distinguish
between the home or small
business type, which is properly
called a ‘mini computer’, and the
type that is used for special ap
plications like cattle feeders,
special controls and automatic
recording devices. Applications
hardware is usually designed for a
single purpose only, like the
automatic cattle feeders that
ration and record the feed eaten by
each cow. On the other hand,
minicomputers such as the Apple
11, Radio Shack, Comodore etc.,
are much more versatile and in
telligent. They quickly become
indispensible for record keeping, *
USED TANKS
AVAILABLE
MARTIN’S REFRIGERATION SERVICE
1122 Woodstock Rd.. Fayetteville, Pa. 17222
Phone (717) 352-2783
Sales & Service
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 21,1983—D19
decision making and a multitude of
, other uses, limited only by the
users initiative and imagination.
Application Hardware -
So far, more farmers have
latched on to the idea that a
computer should automate some
part of the business. Cattle feeding
systems are becoming very
popular for this reason. I know of
at least a dozen already on line in
Lebanon County, and I’m sure
there are many in the surrounding
area. The cost of this type of
equipment is fairly high, running
from $lO,OOO to $25,000 per farm.
The economics of an expenditure
like this must be very carefully
analyzed, not only from the dollars
and cents angle, but also from the
effect on time, herd health, family
involvement and overall
management.
When we examine the reasons
for installing a computerized
feeding system, some are valid
and some are not. Large herds are
harder to group and often place
individual cows under a lot of
stress when moved between
groups. Individual attention is
pretty difficult to manage. A
computerized feeding system
might possibly be the answer to
this if there are limitations on the
herd management. The limits
might be the time, energy or
management ability of the owner
or herdsman. In this case,
automation is substituted for
human judgement. However, the
computer will only perform or pay
off in proportion to the good
judgement of the herdsman. I
heard of one fellow who had the
system removed because it didn’t
save time, and the dealer couldn’t
‘work out the bugs’.
A computerized feed system sets
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