McAree Engineering to Launch SiloSpi Smart Feed Silo Technology at Balmoral Show
McAree Engineering to Launch SiloSpi Smart Feed Silo Technology at Balmoral Show
McAree Engineering together with Lvlogics will be displaying the latest innovation in Silo Feed Monitoring technology at this years Balmoral Show. The LvLogics, SiloSpi technology is being used successfully on a number of Irish livestock farms with V-Mac Silo installations on a range of different applications over the past 6 months.
Fergal Sherry, V-Mac Silo Sales Manager explains “we have been looking for a solution that uses smart technology to let a farmer know how much feed is in his silo for a long time. Feed consumption can often be faster than expected and the meal bins can run out of stock. This puts severe pressure on feed compounders as they may have to schedule deliveries at short notice and often at weekends, thereby incurring extra costs and may find staff unavailable. If feed supplies are interrupted, valuable animals will be under stress, performance will suffer and profitability on farm will be reduced.
According to Fergal, a dairy farmer himself “The solutions that are available are either very expensive, albeit very accurate, or inconsistent. When Lvlogics introduced their SiloSpi solution it ticked all the boxes for us straight away and offered so much more. It provides accuracy to within 3%, is cost efficient and allows the farmer to access valuable data on a range of devices using an easy to follow app.”
Barry Finnegan, CEO of Lvlogics continues “we have developed SiloSpi to solve a number of problems. Apart from showing farmers what’s in their feed silo, it can also monitor humidity, a key aspect in determining feed quality and helping protect your silo. It also removes the need for farmers to physically check the silo to see what’s in it, improving farm Safety. Farmers can choose to share this information with their feed supplier thereby allowing them to more efficiently manage deliveries and reducing re-supply costs.
Since Feb 2021, the UCD Research Farm at Lyons Estate, headed by Dr Eddie Jordan has been using the innovative SiloSpi system to monitor feed levels in their V-Mac Silos and to check the humidity and temperature of the various livestock diets stored in the six meal bins. Backed by Lely, the Lvlogics system provides accuracy on silo contents to within 2/3%.
Dr Jordan and his busy team can access all this data easily on their smartphones or on the office computer. When feed stocks fall to a predetermined level, they receive a text alert and can order further supplies in good time. Their feed miller also has access to this data so they can manufacture the speciality diets and arrange delivery in a more cost- effective and sustainable manner.
The laser sensors used by the LvLogics system have a patented self-cleaning mechanism to deal with the dust in a feed silo, so the data supplied is always accurate. According to Eddie Jordan “prior to installing this system, monitoring feed stocks was very time consuming and we didn’t always get it right. It can be difficult to see what is in a silo and manual checking takes time.”
Eddie explained that “due to changing weather conditions the humidity and temperature in the feed silos could change due to condensation etc. So we could have unforeseen problems with feed bridging in the silos or going mouldy. Humidity checking is becoming more important with more complex feeds which have a range of additives and are more reactive to heat and humidity
V-Mac Silos will be displaying the Lvlogics, SiloSpi solution on their stand at the show. SiloSpi can be retrofitted to any existing feed silo and this work will be carried out by the Lvlogics installation team.V-Mac silos are also running a free competition to win a V-Mac Feed barrow (see photo) valued at €400 (£345) – just fill out an entry form at the V-Mac Silos stand C 66on 8th Avenue.
