My first thought was , "Oh, no, what about Eric's office?" And my second thought was no more beautiful videos of the bunkers being filled at harvest time. But I'm glad you're trying to get Dad to slow down and you too! You put so much thought and research into all your projects, I'm sure this will be a good move. Look forward to watching.
Eric love the idea. We feed 140 cows in 30 minutes w/ three upright silos & commodities ran in out of feed tanks. Just make sure you run PVC pipes for drains on the bottom of those silos and have a plan to get rid of some Silo juice because you will most definitely have some w/ that height. Sollenberger Silos from pa built us a 24/80 in 2016 great work
WOW!! This is going to be a BIG project! Thank you for sharing all of your thoughts and some of the details that went into making this decision. Back in the 80’s when I was milking about 100 cows. All of my feeding was in four upright silos with fully automated feeding. I really liked this method for all of the reasons you have mentioned. And yes, one of the biggest advantages is the better feed quality for the milking cows. After all they are the real money makers! Even back in the 80’s vertical storage with automation saved a lot of labor costs. However I will say from experience that one of the downsides to a fully automated feed system is “the breakdowns”. It is not if they will happen. It is a matter of what to do “when” they happen. So I strongly encourage you to include a solid plan for scheduled maintenance. And a plan B for when “one of the major components of your fully automated feed system” has a problem, or fails. I would recommend designing in a “bypass mode” or “manual feeding mode” into your automation layout. You also may want to install a large stationary generator with enough capacity to back up your entire operation when needed. OMG 132’ tall silos? I hope you will be able to blow your forages that high without having issues. Your custom harvest team may need to upgrade their forage blower a wee bit 😂. I used to have trouble climbing my 80’ tall silos 😅 But maybe you are considering some type of “man lift” for access to the top. You might have to install some kind of clearance lights for that height…….or you could install a star which would be really be cool 😊 Well let me close by saying that I am very excited for you and your family. It takes the faith and courage of everyone in the family to make a major investment in your operation like this. I sincerely wish you all of the best 10th Generation Dairy! And may the Lord bless you and yours as you start on this new and exciting endeavor.
We built a 24x108 poured concrete silo for CS to go with two other silos for haylage. We use the Valmetal AutoRation which makes and feeds the individual rations to cows and heifers. When you consider all factors including labor I believe it is the least cost option for our size of herd.
Just always make sure you have a backup plan for when...some switches mess up.... Cow's will always be hungry around the same time as you know. On our Grade A Dairy we had 3 different ways to feed .. this was in the 80s and 90s. Retired now
It’s interesting to compare I’m in a similar situation with my dad wanting to slow down and with all the constant issues with the silo unloaders and self unloading wagons due to their age I’m getting done with using silos and moving to piles and bunks. Silos are just too time consuming and too much manual labor. There was a cold snap 2 weeks ago both solos were broke if it weren’t for the bunker and tractor for a week the cows would have gone hungry. Also no one around us to service them anymore. With a good pack job and silage inoculant I’ve had 0 waste off silage piles and find them to save time over silos. But every farm is different and theres no one way to do it. I hope your project successful and accomplishes what you hope it to!
The increase in feed quality with upright silos and ability to have more customized ratios and reduced labor makes a lot of sense. Will take a look at how they fill the silos now days. We used a blower to fill our 26’ by 65’ silos and looking into how they can get that forage up 132’. Corn silage was easy to blow but alfalfa was a different story. Will be looking forward to see how this progresses. Maybe could put a roof over one of bunkers and turn that to covered machinery storage. Best wishes.
You have to consider that someone has to operate the machine. If his dad is not able to work anymore eric has to do everything alone. In Winter it would be easier but when fieldwork picks up it is a different story. Plus with the operate silos he also safes on two big rigs plus drivers for packing the silos. I think in his case a Lely vector is the better solution.
Looking forward to seeing the process as you build out the whole system! We are going from payloaders and a feed truck to a self loading TMR. Lots of different ways to feed cows!
WOWZA! What a project. Can not wait to see the videos as things start. So cool to see new silo's going up. Growing up in the midwest they still dominate our skyline but I bet less than 5% of them are used, at the most. Will you tear down your old one's and what are you going to do for a shop? Good luck as the project begins!
I’m jealous that you’re never gonna have to throw another tire! 😂 Saw one working in BC and it seemed to do an excellent job. Good luck with the project!
Eric, thank you for your videos... I am now living vicariously thru your videos. My family sold our dairy cows in 1994 and now I wish I would have been more interested in keeping it going back then, but as a teenager I was not thinking to the future... I will be very interested in how this project comes to fruition and will be interested to see how well it works... Turn the bunkers into shop and storage area now!
Congratulations on what appears to be a well thought out business decision! I've been a business consultant for 40 years and that's the way to find and eliminate efficiency in an operation. Unfortunately, many businesses are faced with the right answers but don't act, afraid of change. Well done, an answer to a question you asked but one that should serve you well for decades.
Here in Quebec Canada. A 600 cows farm have automatic feeding whit no human intervention. All their forages are store in 9 big upright silos. Feed quality and accuracy is excellent. I have the same setup for my farm but on a smaller scale (60 cows). 1 person can do all the everyday chores easily.
Over the years I was always astonished just how much time you put into feeding every day. I wished for you to have a system that takes this load off of you. Basically exactly a system like this. After you mentioned the other videos I watched them and also thought the floor with the forage on it is not the best so I am extra happy for you that you are getting a better system. I pray everything goes smoothly and you and your family are happy with these choices.
I had the same thought. You mentioned using the current shop eliminates building a structure. You didn't say anything about where you would do your shop work.
@@motorman2013 Biggest problem with that is support for the roof. Make 1 bunk the shop, maybe put a used oil heater in it, then roof the adjacent bunk as cold storage. Just imo
I love the idea of this. One thing i would critique is the silo heights. I got a neighbor with 2 140ft silos and they quit using them. Too much compaction. They were going thru unloading augars like nothing. The corn silage was concrete the last 30 feet down. I believe that silage is still in it today. Also they were running into blower issues with heavier forages. Just something to think about. Good luck!
Are they 30 foot diameter silos? Those pack harder that the 24 footers. That was a concern but we talked to a lot of people about this topic and were told we won't have trouble.
Id love to see the numbers. My biggest curiosities are around maintenance and replacement costs(IE lifetime of the robots and other equipment). Those to me feel super nebulous and Im not sure how Id calculate those, but they are also vital to calculating the long term payback of the system. I feel like youd also have to take into account existing equipment costs too.. So many different factors. As I said, Id just love to see the numbers.
This will be interesting to watch. Living in Lancaster county, we have seen a number of farms sold at auction, I am hoping these will remain farms and not end up as developments. Best of luck.
Eric, you've made some major improvements over the time I have been following your channel. A new barn, solar power, a new house etc. I'm excited to see that you are making these gradual improvements and look forward to seeing the progress. I'm sure you will do well.
That is a big project/change for your operation. Those silos will be more than double the height of your current silos! I thought that they had stopped building really tall poured concrete silos. I am wishing you the best in this major change.
WOW.. Excellent recap of your future feeding options.. I'm sure you have made a good decision. Where there is no vision, the people perish. So, you are headed on the right direction. It's always a bit scary to make changes, but in my life, change has always brought a better result. You will be blessed.
COOL Eric I love upright silos. I hope this works as planned. Always a learning curve with anything new. Lely Vector will be there to help you and dad fine tune to your needs. God bless your new venture.
I'm excited to see you moving the operation forward, but I admit I'm going to miss the bunker loading. I found your channel several years ago watching your customer cutter shoot silage over the bunker wall as he passed by.
Surprisingly the motors on the feed units are pretty good. They can plow through an inch of snow easily and with the area that Eric is in, he should be able to keep up with snow pretty easily
Interested in seeing how they operate/move on their paths in the winter with ice and snow. Happy to see how you folk are ways upgrading and trying new processes.
If Eric spreads just a bit of salt, maybe using the Gator with an Salt Spreader for the Robot Paths there's no struggle for them two Red lads to feed Eric 's Ladys.
@@ClassVplus th rate of speed which the vector drive units go is so slow the flew times he would have to do it wouldn’t be an issue. Also, once the ice and snow is gone, they can use their skid steer brush attachment to clean up the salt from the laths
I agree with your concern of keeping the forage fresh. I've seen videos of the vector kitchen with the grabber claw and have wondered how it could keep the floor clean enough that there wouldn't be a bunch of spoilage. Silos seem to be a perfect fit for keeping feed fresh with this style of automation. However, there may be some challenges with expecting unloaders to operate flawlessly unattended during extreme cold temperatures. I guess I'm not sure what the wintertime temperatures are in your area. I am excited to see how this turns out for you.
Sounds awesome and really well researched. After this project, it seems the next logical step is to install Lely robot milkers so you don’t have to rely on so many staff members milking cows 3 times per day. One robot per group would be perfect. Love watching your progress.
I am beyond ecstatic for you and your family, investing in making your life easier while staying the same size as dad enjoys himself! Especially while your other employees (11th gen) are growing. Where will you put your current shed contents? Maybe knock out the center concrete bunker walls and put a steal frame shed on top of the 3 remaining concrete walls?
I was surprised to hear of a modern case for silos, but it makes sense considering the feed freshness and best match for a robot feed. I hope the poured concrete silo unloaders would require minimal labor - no short/long arming for bottom unload, or no frequent climbing for top unload. It will be interesting to see this!
Wow this is a lot more and different than what I thought you might say. Sounds like you’ve really done your research for the best fit for your farm. I hope it all works out for you and your family
A few questions, Are you totally getting rid of alfalfa hay? What are you going to do with the current 4 upright silos and 3 bunkers? Will you build a shop for your equipment?
I would think that building the new silos across the feed room from the other silos would be better as you could still utilize the old silos in case of bumper crops, different heifer feeds or if you ever expand the cow numbers in the future. You would most likely need to redo the feed room and take down the old barn but at least you still keep your shop
In my opinion a self propelled mixer would be the only proper way to do the feeding in your farm. You should at least try it out. If it doesn't work for you, you can sell it anyway and have no financial losses. Can't do that with some concrete silos. With the robot you won't know the feeding is done for that day. Imagine it breaks down Saturday night, there's very little feed at the milkcows, so you only got a few hours to get it fixed. The outdoor driving also shouldn't be the easiest thing for the robot, plus how are you gonna feed the heifers at the other farm? Last but not least it will be a waste if you dont use the bunker silos anymore. I would love to have some bunks for my 45 cows (all feed in wraped bales), so it would hurt to see this. (hope there aren't too many grammatical issues) Greets from Austria
I totally agree with you, he would save a lot of time, could sell 1 skid steer and use all existing buildings, he would only spend 200k instend of 1m and could use the money somewheare else. So hopule he sees your comment
Hello Eric. I am a 34 year old dairy farmer from Germany. We bought our GEA automatic feeding system in 2012 and we are very happy about the efficiency and the elemination of labour you talked about. We feed 120 dairycows a day with this System with 12-15kwh elektric power per day. So its like you said much cheaper than with diesel. Use as much stainless steel for this system you can. It will cost a little bit more money at the beginning, but at the end you will safe money and especially safe labour time because you will have less issius and broken things at the system. Thank you for your videos here at UA-cam. You are a inspiration for me and i think for all farmers.
I think to your main point, it makes perfect sense: freshness and timeliness of feed. The silos will maintain freshness and the vectors on a susinct schedule will make everything timely. Not to mention what this will do for your father in 5 years time when he can still find fullfillment with farm chores without the constant strain of feeding chores taking up a majority of the day. Not to mention what this will do for you and your family, Eric. More time with the kids and missus while you maintain good herd health better than ever before. 10/10!!!
I am going to miss watching you fill and pack the bunkers in the fall- for some odd reason I enjoyed watching that. On the flip side- you can repurpose the bunkers for super long basketball courts.🤔
I lived down the road from a dairy farmer almost my whole life and your videos show me just how hard they worked. All I ever saw from time to time was them planting, harvesting, getting rides in the combine here and there... lol I really like this idea and I can't wait to see it through with all the videos you post about it!!
We have everything in bunks and deface what we need for the feeding and load it with a wheel loader into a truck with a mixer on it and park under augers that add the additives into the mixer. Everything is measured and the truck displays the weight. We also only feed once in the morning and put out enough to last to the next day.
Eric, I have been watchin' you for a while and I know how much you truly care for all your animals for food and comfort. Best wishes going ahead and it sounds like you surely have done your homework. God bless!
Sounds like the perfect STORM. Im not on board with all the cost and new cement, you are already having trouble with the cleaning robots you have- and now you want to add more robots. Dont sell the tractors and feed wagon !! with every snow or mud tracked on the robot path, you have to clean it first before it will feed, still lots of labor, just a different location. What about power outage, or will it fry in a lighting storm cutting across the yard.
The farmers around me who use the vectors are all happy with them, i dont think you should make him too worried. He is a handy guy and will figure things out along the way.
Well thought out plan to set your farm up for the next generation. I have never been a fan of bunker silos; poorer feed quality, higher waste, high labor input at harvest, the plastic, the tires, the mess. They are cheaper up front, but expensive long haul. The waste factor of a bunker will be a factor in which farms make it, I think. High waste and less than optimum quality fed does not mark a farm for success. I am truly impressed with the plan and excited for you family!
Hey Eric, we are currently building the Lely vector on our Lely robotic dairy farm as well! The goods seems to be a very exciting and useful foresight to us and hopefully they will be for you too! Gods blessing on the project and I hope it works out well for you!
You're not crazy. We're feeding 300 cows all out of large upright silos. No tires to toss, no plastic to trim, no regrets. We're using top unload unloaders with auto let down, they work great. Adding a vector to our system is in the back of my mind. Good luck!
Questions. • why poured concrete silos and not metal? • do you have a love-hate relationship with your commodity barn. • do you plan on building a new shop? • how do the robot feeders work in snow and extreme cold. • are you going to have a way to manually mix and feed the cows if the system goes down? Best of luck and I love seeing you implement new technology. We grow pumpkins and it's always cool to see how other farmers do their work.
I Love the Lely Vector System. Silagecubecutters were very popular here in Germany. Using Operator Silos for the Vector is the perfect Way. In Germany, these Silos are to expensive to build. Self propelled Mixers and Bunker Silos are very often used cause of the Heads of Cattle per Farm. Would like to have a Vector for my Beef Cattle. Good luck Eric. 🎉
WOW!! Seems like a massive undertaking. Modern technology is becoming more and more used throughout the farming capabilities. Watching your farm transit to this system will be a feather in the cap for Lely as well with your UA-cam following as well. Sounds like a great opportunity to barter off some ad for unit pricing. I super excited to watch it put into use. Thanks so much for taking me along the ride!!
Definitely the way to go Eric. I have been involved in various industries from Farming to Engineering to People Recruitment and at one stage had over 60 employees. The biggest headache in all of these businesses was labor efficiency and employee attendance or negligence. Removing the people factor is the way to go as the robots don't need sick time or days off. Yes there will be breakdowns and maintenance, but that is far more easy to deal with that the human factor. I wish you the best of luck with the new feeding system. PS. I am not saying all employees are bad, but when you have bad ones if causes so many problems.
I also follow IowaDairyFarmer with a Lely Feeding system. He also has a 2 or 3 robotic milkers. But you were my first dairy farmer I have been following for about 2 years. Thanks for ur video and all the hard work you and your family does to to provide milk to us, the customers. Hope all is well with your family. ❤😊
This is why I watch this channel. I'm the 8th generation on my farm, we've raised grass fed beef my entire life. Haven’t done dairy since before I was born (4 decades...) and I've never even heard of robot feeders like this, but it seems to not be that new! I can't wait to see this system. Sounds like all upside from labor to time to even waste from the bunkers. Thanks for sharing all this with us!
After watching the videos you provided about automatic feeding, you are making the right choice. You also did your homework by visiting farms that have been using this system from 5-10 years. And it became an easy decision to make. I'm excited for you and your family to see the new system. I wish you the best of luck with the building and operation of the automatic feeders. Thanks for sharing the news with all of us. Stay safe.
Sounds like an exciting upgrade. Can't wait to see the progress. I'll miss the shot of the forage harvester shooting corn straight into the silo though :(
Just want to say I have been watching your videos since 5 years ago when you started posting on UA-cam. The amount of dedication and passion for the success of your family farm is outstanding and inspirational, to say the least. It has been incredible to see all of the changes you guys have put in place to be more efficient and have the best quality of product. All I can say is I pray for you guys to have success and wishing for the best of luck!
Also, do not tear down your bunkers. You can put a roof over them and use them for storage. We put a roof on an inconvenient placed bunker and bed with corn stalks and works as a nice loose housing shed for our cows in the winter.
We built our barn last year with 3 lely robots and manure scrapers but decided not to go for the automated feed system we're still running a silage wagon it just wasn't gonna work for us but I'm excited to see how yours will turn out seems nice
I’m not sure what type of upright silo you are planning on building, concrete or harvestore but from my experience (our farm has both) I would build harvestore silos with top unloading. We run two on our farm that we converted from bottom to top unloading and would take them hands down over a stave silo. Reasons being 1. the feed doesn’t freeze on the sides in the winter time like a stave silo does 2. over time the door frames on stave silos either rot out or break out of the concrete and with harvestore silos the frames just bolt in and could be changed out easily if needed. 3. You can fill the harvestore in the center and run a distributor on top of the unloader to distribute the feed evenly which is very nice when leveling off. J&J silo down by you guys installed them for us and would highly recommend them. That being said I do think you’re crazy going back to uprights as I wouldn’t mind getting away from them but to each their own. Your dad still has some life left in him, my dads 67 and still going but is slowly starting to let himself slow down 😂
I'm a big fan of Iowa Dairy Farmer on Facebook, and when I saw your title, knew you guys already use Lely for scraping feed, I was like, "are they gonna get the Vector?!" It's a cool system, so excited for you guys!!!!
Sounds like an awesome project and best of luck. I used to help with the feeding on my family’s 700 cow dairy. It was easily a 7-8 hour day with a big feed truck, telehandlers, and skid loaders. Also, good luck with getting your dad to slowdown. My grandfather was still lugging 50-60 pound feed sacks of heifer grain everyday at 80 years old. He never wanted to slow down. 😂
There are a few systems that can take out silage from bunkers on there own, so you wouldn’t have to rebuild all of your silos. Wasserbauer from Austria has such a system and the Kuhn Aura is getting tested as well. Maybe you would have to wait for another three years to have this system bullet proof working, but it would be less of an investment for sure
This is going to be a very interesting project to follow! I guess you are going to have to build a new workshop in the future to? Since the old one will be turned into a feed room? Maybe put roof on the old bunker silos and enclose them turning them into a giant workshop/storage shed is a possibility.
I agree with you. As I've watched your videos over the years - I have noticed how much time you spend mixing feed. Also I calculate how much time 1 person wastes walking back and forth to get mixer and skid loader to where it needs to be. The feed robot itself is a good idea. I totally agree that a system of uprights is the most efficient and best feed quality. Something else ive noticed and wondered about is how you manage 4 pens of cows based on DIM but feed only 1 batch of feed. The robot would allow you to feed each group more efficiently
Eric, it sounds like you and your dad have done your homework. I also find it interesting that the “circle” is coming back around to using upright silos. Sixty years ago we used two 60’ Harvestore silos for corn and hay and a forty foot high moisture corn for the dairy. A herd of 120 dairy and another 100 or so heifers. With self-feeding bunkers it was a nice system for its day. The best of luck and wishing God’s blessings for you all.
Others have expressed some concerns that I have, and mine all are concerned with the silos. Potential feed compaction issues due to that height, filling the silo with that height, and a new one..making SURE that the footings are DESIGNED ON YOUR GROUND to hold that load. You don't need a "Leaning Tower of Pisa'. Make sure that you also have a plan for locating more silos when you expand! haha. Good Luck, I think its a great endeavor!
It will be interesting to see how it works out for you. I've never seen a system like that with so many spread out barns. That leaves me with a few questions. How do you do the feeding on the rented farm? Have you considered a selfpropelled mixer and if yes what spoke against it? Cause from an outside look it would fit your current feeding and barn setup quite nicely.
There is nothing wrong with upright silos. GO BIG.....BIG. My cousin who was milking 300 cow plus young stock and steers was using a 24X90 , 18X80, 20X70' 20X60. It might be possible to save some money by expanding the silos you have. Harvestores can have additional panels added at the bottom, I've seen their new unloader and it moves HUGE amounts of forage. In an earlier episode you said the 20X50 unloader was shot. Add 30 feet to that silo plus the new unloader. The stave silos can easily be added onto. Add 20 feet onto them plus numerous additional rods between the existing ones. The Patz chain type unloader has huge volume compared with auger type unloaders. Consider if adding onto your 4 existing silos would increase the storage enough to equal one of the new proposed silos, how would cost compare? Remember climate change is messing with the weather. If you can manage to produce and store an additional years worth or more that buffer will allow you to ride out a couple years of below average production. It worked for Joseph and he had to deal with 7 bad years.
Enjoy your exciting year ahead, from a retired dairy farmer down under in Australia. Love to be there to witness the project develop, I will be glued to you tube watching your videos of this project
So will the existing silos be incorporated into the system as well? I work on a farm that uses silos and silage piles. The pile is nice for quickness of feeding, but I believe that’s where the advantage of the pile stops. Some people say tower silos are labor intensive. I would say managing plastic and tires and all the fuel, and wear and tear on equipment that is invested in packing a pile Makes it more labor-intensive. Silos do have their issues as well. But I believe with a well managed regular maintenance program. This system will be good for your farm
Your idea is great. I've seen the vector and they are best paired with silos. The main concern for me would be corn silage moisture. We always would shoot for 60% moisture for silo. With bags or bunkers it's easier to get that 65-70 moisture the cows really like. And I'm glad it's not me having to climb that 132 foot silo. Nothing better happen to you, because nobody else is going to want that job on a cold winter day!
How are you going to feed the cows at the other farm? Great idea with upright silos for the robot, i think you don’t gain much time with using silage bunks with the vector, and you lose on feed freshness. But it’s kinda sad to abandon great silage bunks.
Wishing you the best in your quest to find the best feeding systems for your operation. America needs successful dairy operators!
My first thought was , "Oh, no, what about Eric's office?" And my second thought was no more beautiful videos of the bunkers being filled at harvest time. But I'm glad you're trying to get Dad to slow down and you too! You put so much thought and research into all your projects, I'm sure this will be a good move. Look forward to watching.
Eric love the idea. We feed 140 cows in 30 minutes w/ three upright silos & commodities ran in out of feed tanks. Just make sure you run PVC pipes for drains on the bottom of those silos and have a plan to get rid of some Silo juice because you will most definitely have some w/ that height. Sollenberger Silos from pa built us a 24/80 in 2016 great work
WOW!! This is going to be a BIG project! Thank you for sharing all of your thoughts and some of the details that went into making this decision. Back in the 80’s when I was milking about 100 cows. All of my feeding was in four upright silos with fully automated feeding. I really liked this method for all of the reasons you have mentioned. And yes, one of the biggest advantages is the better feed quality for the milking cows. After all they are the real money makers! Even back in the 80’s vertical storage with automation saved a lot of labor costs. However I will say from experience that one of the downsides to a fully automated feed system is “the breakdowns”. It is not if they will happen. It is a matter of what to do “when” they happen. So I strongly encourage you to include a solid plan for scheduled maintenance. And a plan B for when “one of the major components of your fully automated feed system” has a problem, or fails. I would recommend designing in a “bypass mode” or “manual feeding mode” into your automation layout. You also may want to install a large stationary generator with enough capacity to back up your entire operation when needed.
OMG 132’ tall silos? I hope you will be able to blow your forages that high without having issues. Your custom harvest team may need to upgrade their forage blower a wee bit 😂. I used to have trouble climbing my 80’ tall silos 😅 But maybe you are considering some type of “man lift” for access to the top. You might have to install some kind of clearance lights for that height…….or you could install a star which would be really be cool 😊
Well let me close by saying that I am very excited for you and your family. It takes the faith and courage of everyone in the family to make a major investment in your operation like this. I sincerely wish you all of the best 10th Generation Dairy! And may the Lord bless you and yours as you start on this new and exciting endeavor.
My neighbor hung curtains from the top of the commodity shed down to about 15 ft from the ground it kept most of the rain and snow out.
Congratulations on this project! I will be looking forward to seeing everything come together. And to the view from the top of the new silos!!!
We built a 24x108 poured concrete silo for CS to go with two other silos for haylage. We use the Valmetal AutoRation which makes and feeds the individual rations to cows and heifers. When you consider all factors including labor I believe it is the least cost option for our size of herd.
Just always make sure you have a backup plan for when...some switches mess up.... Cow's will always be hungry around the same time as you know. On our Grade A Dairy we had 3 different ways to feed .. this was in the 80s and 90s. Retired now
It’s interesting to compare I’m in a similar situation with my dad wanting to slow down and with all the constant issues with the silo unloaders and self unloading wagons due to their age I’m getting done with using silos and moving to piles and bunks. Silos are just too time consuming and too much manual labor. There was a cold snap 2 weeks ago both solos were broke if it weren’t for the bunker and tractor for a week the cows would have gone hungry. Also no one around us to service them anymore. With a good pack job and silage inoculant I’ve had 0 waste off silage piles and find them to save time over silos. But every farm is different and theres no one way to do it. I hope your project successful and accomplishes what you hope it to!
Wishing you the best in 2024 as you evolve! 🙏🇺🇸
The increase in feed quality with upright silos and ability to have more customized ratios and reduced labor makes a lot of sense. Will take a look at how they fill the silos now days. We used a blower to fill our 26’ by 65’ silos and looking into how they can get that forage up 132’. Corn silage was easy to blow but alfalfa was a different story. Will be looking forward to see how this progresses. Maybe could put a roof over one of bunkers and turn that to covered machinery storage. Best wishes.
Have you thought about self-propelled mixers ? In your system you could put everything in it without needing a skidloader
Exactly what I tought, it would easily cut the mixing abd feeding actual time in 2 maybe even 3. And without huge invesments in silos.
@@ericgallenberger7094 maybe if dad doesn't have to climb into the skid steer and into the tractor fifteen times a day it's worth it.
You have to consider that someone has to operate the machine. If his dad is not able to work anymore eric has to do everything alone. In Winter it would be easier but when fieldwork picks up it is a different story. Plus with the operate silos he also safes on two big rigs plus drivers for packing the silos. I think in his case a Lely vector is the better solution.
@theaustrianboy9409 I get that. But you also have to look at how much it would be used to be worth the cost of a machine
This would save some time but still not be time free!
Looking forward to seeing the process as you build out the whole system! We are going from payloaders and a feed truck to a self loading TMR. Lots of different ways to feed cows!
And less plastic going into the landfill! This is awesome! Looking forward to the coming videos!
Yea. Every time he filled the silage bins(and bags) I wondered how much plastic he had to go through. Bet it was not cheap either.
The plastic gets recycled.
@@PatrickHenry-bz9qd does it though? I think you’re hopefully thinking that.
Knowing most farms the plastic probably gets burned.
@PatrickHenry-bz9qd usually burned, I know nobody that has recycled them.
WOWZA! What a project. Can not wait to see the videos as things start. So cool to see new silo's going up. Growing up in the midwest they still dominate our skyline but I bet less than 5% of them are used, at the most. Will you tear down your old one's and what are you going to do for a shop? Good luck as the project begins!
I’m jealous that you’re never gonna have to throw another tire! 😂 Saw one working in BC and it seemed to do an excellent job. Good luck with the project!
I'm not going to miss that! Thanks Jan
Sure do miss your videos Jan, hope everything is well with you and your family.
Did you quit doing UA-cam videos for good?
Eric, thank you for your videos... I am now living vicariously thru your videos. My family sold our dairy cows in 1994 and now I wish I would have been more interested in keeping it going back then, but as a teenager I was not thinking to the future...
I will be very interested in how this project comes to fruition and will be interested to see how well it works...
Turn the bunkers into shop and storage area now!
Congratulations on what appears to be a well thought out business decision! I've been a business consultant for 40 years and that's the way to find and eliminate efficiency in an operation. Unfortunately, many businesses are faced with the right answers but don't act, afraid of change. Well done, an answer to a question you asked but one that should serve you well for decades.
I work for a Lely dealership in Wisconsin, we’re currently installing a Vector system. I think you’ll be very pleased with it!
Here in Quebec Canada. A 600 cows farm have automatic feeding whit no human intervention. All their forages are store in 9 big upright silos. Feed quality and accuracy is excellent. I have the same setup for my farm but on a smaller scale (60 cows). 1 person can do all the everyday chores easily.
Over the years I was always astonished just how much time you put into feeding every day. I wished for you to have a system that takes this load off of you. Basically exactly a system like this. After you mentioned the other videos I watched them and also thought the floor with the forage on it is not the best so I am extra happy for you that you are getting a better system. I pray everything goes smoothly and you and your family are happy with these choices.
This sounds like an excellent system. I will definitely be interested in the upcoming videos. Good luck!
Good deal. One of the old bunkers would make a good start for a new shop
I had the same thought. You mentioned using the current shop eliminates building a structure. You didn't say anything about where you would do your shop work.
Yes, storage and shop!!!
I have seen bunkers being converted to sheds with a roof structure, so that's an option.
or all three just knock the dividers for one big space or keep one in and have a divided heat and cold storage like the one they have but much bigger
@@motorman2013 Biggest problem with that is support for the roof. Make 1 bunk the shop, maybe put a used oil heater in it, then roof the adjacent bunk as cold storage. Just imo
I was thinking about a self-propelled feed mixer, those electric ones from siloking are looking pretty good
Yes indeed
Your excitement about the future comes through.
Congratulations 🍾🎉🎊
Sounds like the perfect setup for you and your dad! Can’t wait to see the videos of the construction.
I love the idea of this. One thing i would critique is the silo heights. I got a neighbor with 2 140ft silos and they quit using them. Too much compaction. They were going thru unloading augars like nothing. The corn silage was concrete the last 30 feet down. I believe that silage is still in it today. Also they were running into blower issues with heavier forages.
Just something to think about. Good luck!
Are they 30 foot diameter silos? Those pack harder that the 24 footers. That was a concern but we talked to a lot of people about this topic and were told we won't have trouble.
They are 30ft. Hopefully they will treat ya good.
I wonder if the Harvestor bottom load would be a better option?
Bottom unload are a lot more work and maintenance. Ideally top unload. Constantly better feed freshness/quality
What state do you come from? Seems like 140ft silos are still being built in PA.
Id love to see the numbers. My biggest curiosities are around maintenance and replacement costs(IE lifetime of the robots and other equipment). Those to me feel super nebulous and Im not sure how Id calculate those, but they are also vital to calculating the long term payback of the system. I feel like youd also have to take into account existing equipment costs too.. So many different factors. As I said, Id just love to see the numbers.
This will be interesting to watch. Living in Lancaster county, we have seen a number of farms sold at auction, I am hoping these will remain farms and not end up as developments.
Best of luck.
Eric, you've made some major improvements over the time I have been following your channel. A new barn, solar power, a new house etc. I'm excited to see that you are making these gradual improvements and look forward to seeing the progress. I'm sure you will do well.
That is a big project/change for your operation. Those silos will be more than double the height of your current silos! I thought that they had stopped building really tall poured concrete silos. I am wishing you the best in this major change.
Major investment and I’m sure very exciting for you guys. Can’t wait to see it all come together.
WOW.. Excellent recap of your future feeding options.. I'm sure you have made a good decision. Where there is no vision, the people perish. So, you are headed on the right direction. It's always a bit scary to make changes, but in my life, change has always brought a better result.
You will be blessed.
COOL Eric I love upright silos. I hope this works as planned. Always a learning curve with anything new.
Lely Vector will be there to help you and dad fine tune to your needs. God bless your new venture.
I'm excited to see you moving the operation forward, but I admit I'm going to miss the bunker loading. I found your channel several years ago watching your customer cutter shoot silage over the bunker wall as he passed by.
the snow and ice may make it challenging for robots traveling between barns. I hope its easy to load old wagon for backup
Surprisingly the motors on the feed units are pretty good. They can plow through an inch of snow easily and with the area that Eric is in, he should be able to keep up with snow pretty easily
Interested in seeing how they operate/move on their paths in the winter with ice and snow. Happy to see how you folk are ways upgrading and trying new processes.
If Eric spreads just a bit of salt, maybe using the Gator with an Salt Spreader for the Robot Paths there's no struggle for them two Red lads to feed Eric 's Ladys.
@marianpradler1479 I doubt salt is a smart long-term solution.
@@ClassVplus th rate of speed which the vector drive units go is so slow the flew times he would have to do it wouldn’t be an issue. Also, once the ice and snow is gone, they can use their skid steer brush attachment to clean up the salt from the laths
I agree with your concern of keeping the forage fresh. I've seen videos of the vector kitchen with the grabber claw and have wondered how it could keep the floor clean enough that there wouldn't be a bunch of spoilage. Silos seem to be a perfect fit for keeping feed fresh with this style of automation. However, there may be some challenges with expecting unloaders to operate flawlessly unattended during extreme cold temperatures. I guess I'm not sure what the wintertime temperatures are in your area. I am excited to see how this turns out for you.
Looking forward to seeing how things work out big change.
Sounds awesome and really well researched. After this project, it seems the next logical step is to install Lely robot milkers so you don’t have to rely on so many staff members milking cows 3 times per day. One robot per group would be perfect. Love watching your progress.
Great talk! Sold me.
I’m going to go with uprights and robots too.
Hmmm. I just need a farm and cows to go with it.
I am beyond ecstatic for you and your family, investing in making your life easier while staying the same size as dad enjoys himself! Especially while your other employees (11th gen) are growing.
Where will you put your current shed contents? Maybe knock out the center concrete bunker walls and put a steal frame shed on top of the 3 remaining concrete walls?
Been watching for few years & love to see how much you guys have grown & cant wait to see new feeding system evolve.
Need a new Q & A with you & dad.
Wow, not what I was expecting. I hope it all works out for you. I also hope they are complete when you need them done for harvest.👍👍✌️
Good luck with the changes, I just hope the maintenance factors of all the new equipment doesn't make your life harder.
Wow! Excited to follow along in your new feed project ! Thanks for sharing your farm life with us!
Robots!!! Awesome sauce. Love the idea of dad being able to slow down and the money aspect working out.
I was surprised to hear of a modern case for silos, but it makes sense considering the feed freshness and best match for a robot feed. I hope the poured concrete silo unloaders would require minimal labor - no short/long arming for bottom unload, or no frequent climbing for top unload. It will be interesting to see this!
Wow this is a lot more and different than what I thought you might say. Sounds like you’ve really done your research for the best fit for your farm. I hope it all works out for you and your family
A few questions,
Are you totally getting rid of alfalfa hay?
What are you going to do with the current 4 upright silos and 3 bunkers?
Will you build a shop for your equipment?
It will be very Interesting and exciting to follow along with Erik this year.
Cheers 🇨🇦
I would think that building the new silos across the feed room from the other silos would be better as you could still utilize the old silos in case of bumper crops, different heifer feeds or if you ever expand the cow numbers in the future. You would most likely need to redo the feed room and take down the old barn but at least you still keep your shop
In my opinion a self propelled mixer would be the only proper way to do the feeding in your farm. You should at least try it out. If it doesn't work for you, you can sell it anyway and have no financial losses. Can't do that with some concrete silos.
With the robot you won't know the feeding is done for that day. Imagine it breaks down Saturday night, there's very little feed at the milkcows, so you only got a few hours to get it fixed. The outdoor driving also shouldn't be the easiest thing for the robot, plus how are you gonna feed the heifers at the other farm?
Last but not least it will be a waste if you dont use the bunker silos anymore. I would love to have some bunks for my 45 cows (all feed in wraped bales), so it would hurt to see this.
(hope there aren't too many grammatical issues)
Greets from Austria
I totally agree with you, he would save a lot of time, could sell 1 skid steer and use all existing buildings, he would only spend 200k instend of 1m and could use the money somewheare else. So hopule he sees your comment
Well thought out. Great idea. Might convert bunker silo into a shop area.
Go for it! Sounds good. Are you gonna convert the bunker silo's into shop/equipment shed?
Hello Eric. I am a 34 year old dairy farmer from Germany. We bought our GEA automatic feeding system in 2012 and we are very happy about the efficiency and the elemination of labour you talked about. We feed 120 dairycows a day with this System with 12-15kwh elektric power per day. So its like you said much cheaper than with diesel. Use as much stainless steel for this system you can. It will cost a little bit more money at the beginning, but at the end you will safe money and especially safe labour time because you will have less issius and broken things at the system.
Thank you for your videos here at UA-cam. You are a inspiration for me and i think for all farmers.
That's gonna be cool! Can't wait to see all the improvements.
I think to your main point, it makes perfect sense: freshness and timeliness of feed. The silos will maintain freshness and the vectors on a susinct schedule will make everything timely. Not to mention what this will do for your father in 5 years time when he can still find fullfillment with farm chores without the constant strain of feeding chores taking up a majority of the day.
Not to mention what this will do for you and your family, Eric. More time with the kids and missus while you maintain good herd health better than ever before.
10/10!!!
I am going to miss watching you fill and pack the bunkers in the fall- for some odd reason I enjoyed watching that. On the flip side- you can repurpose the bunkers for super long basketball courts.🤔
I lived down the road from a dairy farmer almost my whole life and your videos show me just how hard they worked. All I ever saw from time to time was them planting, harvesting, getting rides in the combine here and there... lol
I really like this idea and I can't wait to see it through with all the videos you post about it!!
We have everything in bunks and deface what we need for the feeding and load it with a wheel loader into a truck with a mixer on it and park under augers that add the additives into the mixer. Everything is measured and the truck displays the weight. We also only feed once in the morning and put out enough to last to the next day.
Eric, I have been watchin' you for a while and I know how much you truly care for all your animals for food and comfort. Best wishes going ahead and it sounds like you surely have done your homework. God bless!
Sounds like the perfect STORM. Im not on board with all the cost and new cement, you are already having trouble with the cleaning robots you have- and now you want to add more robots. Dont sell the tractors and feed wagon !! with every snow or mud tracked on the robot path, you have to clean it first before it will feed, still lots of labor, just a different location. What about power outage, or will it fry in a lighting storm cutting across the yard.
The farmers around me who use the vectors are all happy with them, i dont think you should make him too worried. He is a handy guy and will figure things out along the way.
would rather hear from him instead of a arm chair quarterback like you. @@ford8630power
You'll love it! Got ours put in August.
Well thought out plan to set your farm up for the next generation. I have never been a fan of bunker silos; poorer feed quality, higher waste, high labor input at harvest, the plastic, the tires, the mess. They are cheaper up front, but expensive long haul. The waste factor of a bunker will be a factor in which farms make it, I think. High waste and less than optimum quality fed does not mark a farm for success.
I am truly impressed with the plan and excited for you family!
Hey Eric, we are currently building the Lely vector on our Lely robotic dairy farm as well! The goods seems to be a very exciting and useful foresight to us and hopefully they will be for you too! Gods blessing on the project and I hope it works out well for you!
You're not crazy. We're feeding 300 cows all out of large upright silos. No tires to toss, no plastic to trim, no regrets. We're using top unload unloaders with auto let down, they work great. Adding a vector to our system is in the back of my mind. Good luck!
I think you should consider a self propelled mixer and a bunker for your tritcal. I've seen a dairy mix a batch of feed in less than 10minutes.
Major change? Sounds like some future quality videos coming!
Sounds like a big headache
Questions.
• why poured concrete silos and not metal?
• do you have a love-hate relationship with your commodity barn.
• do you plan on building a new shop?
• how do the robot feeders work in snow and extreme cold.
• are you going to have a way to manually mix and feed the cows if the system goes down?
Best of luck and I love seeing you implement new technology. We grow pumpkins and it's always cool to see how other farmers do their work.
I Love the Lely Vector System. Silagecubecutters were very popular here in Germany. Using Operator Silos for the Vector is the perfect Way. In Germany, these Silos are to expensive to build. Self propelled Mixers and Bunker Silos are very often used cause of the Heads of Cattle per Farm.
Would like to have a Vector for my Beef Cattle.
Good luck Eric. 🎉
WOW!! Seems like a massive undertaking. Modern technology is becoming more and more used throughout the farming capabilities. Watching your farm transit to this system will be a feather in the cap for Lely as well with your UA-cam following as well. Sounds like a great opportunity to barter off some ad for unit pricing. I super excited to watch it put into use. Thanks so much for taking me along the ride!!
It’s not what I expected. Robots sure but didn’t think you’d go upright. I understand your reasoning. Looking forward to seeing the project.
Definitely the way to go Eric. I have been involved in various industries from Farming to Engineering to People Recruitment and at one stage had over 60 employees. The biggest headache in all of these businesses was labor efficiency and employee attendance or negligence. Removing the people factor is the way to go as the robots don't need sick time or days off. Yes there will be breakdowns and maintenance, but that is far more easy to deal with that the human factor. I wish you the best of luck with the new feeding system. PS. I am not saying all employees are bad, but when you have bad ones if causes so many problems.
Over half a century in, silos are back n style. 😂👍🏻😎
I also follow IowaDairyFarmer with a Lely Feeding system. He also has a 2 or 3 robotic milkers. But you were my first dairy farmer I have been following for about 2 years. Thanks for ur video and all the hard work you and your family does to to provide milk to us, the customers. Hope all is well with your family. ❤😊
Would love to hear more about the finance behind it all!
This is why I watch this channel. I'm the 8th generation on my farm, we've raised grass fed beef my entire life. Haven’t done dairy since before I was born (4 decades...) and I've never even heard of robot feeders like this, but it seems to not be that new! I can't wait to see this system. Sounds like all upside from labor to time to even waste from the bunkers. Thanks for sharing all this with us!
I hope everything goes good with your farm for 2024 from the imperial county California 👍👍🇺🇲
After watching the videos you provided about automatic feeding, you are making the right choice. You also did your homework by visiting farms that have been using this system from 5-10 years. And it became an easy decision to make. I'm excited for you and your family to see the new system. I wish you the best of luck with the building and operation of the automatic feeders. Thanks for sharing the news with all of us. Stay safe.
Sounds like an exciting upgrade. Can't wait to see the progress. I'll miss the shot of the forage harvester shooting corn straight into the silo though :(
Kuhn Aura, when it came available, it can go by itself in the bunker silos and self load from it like a self-propelled mixer, but without a driver
Just want to say I have been watching your videos since 5 years ago when you started posting on UA-cam. The amount of dedication and passion for the success of your family farm is outstanding and inspirational, to say the least. It has been incredible to see all of the changes you guys have put in place to be more efficient and have the best quality of product. All I can say is I pray for you guys to have success and wishing for the best of luck!
Also, do not tear down your bunkers. You can put a roof over them and use them for storage. We put a roof on an inconvenient placed bunker and bed with corn stalks and works as a nice loose housing shed for our cows in the winter.
We built our barn last year with 3 lely robots and manure scrapers but decided not to go for the automated feed system we're still running a silage wagon it just wasn't gonna work for us but I'm excited to see how yours will turn out seems nice
I’m not sure what type of upright silo you are planning on building, concrete or harvestore but from my experience (our farm has both) I would build harvestore silos with top unloading. We run two on our farm that we converted from bottom to top unloading and would take them hands down over a stave silo. Reasons being 1. the feed doesn’t freeze on the sides in the winter time like a stave silo does 2. over time the door frames on stave silos either rot out or break out of the concrete and with harvestore silos the frames just bolt in and could be changed out easily if needed. 3. You can fill the harvestore in the center and run a distributor on top of the unloader to distribute the feed evenly which is very nice when leveling off. J&J silo down by you guys installed them for us and would highly recommend them. That being said I do think you’re crazy going back to uprights as I wouldn’t mind getting away from them but to each their own. Your dad still has some life left in him, my dads 67 and still going but is slowly starting to let himself slow down 😂
Sounds very exciting! In southern Ontario, silos are coming back with automated feeding just like you are planning.
I'm a big fan of Iowa Dairy Farmer on Facebook, and when I saw your title, knew you guys already use Lely for scraping feed, I was like, "are they gonna get the Vector?!" It's a cool system, so excited for you guys!!!!
Looking forward to seeing the construction of the silos and watching the feed system at work.
Sounds like an awesome project and best of luck. I used to help with the feeding on my family’s 700 cow dairy. It was easily a 7-8 hour day with a big feed truck, telehandlers, and skid loaders. Also, good luck with getting your dad to slowdown. My grandfather was still lugging 50-60 pound feed sacks of heifer grain everyday at 80 years old. He never wanted to slow down. 😂
There are a few systems that can take out silage from bunkers on there own, so you wouldn’t have to rebuild all of your silos. Wasserbauer from Austria has such a system and the Kuhn Aura is getting tested as well. Maybe you would have to wait for another three years to have this system bullet proof working, but it would be less of an investment for sure
This is going to be a very interesting project to follow! I guess you are going to have to build a new workshop in the future to? Since the old one will be turned into a feed room?
Maybe put roof on the old bunker silos and enclose them turning them into a giant workshop/storage shed is a possibility.
I agree with you. As I've watched your videos over the years - I have noticed how much time you spend mixing feed. Also I calculate how much time 1 person wastes walking back and forth to get mixer and skid loader to where it needs to be. The feed robot itself is a good idea. I totally agree that a system of uprights is the most efficient and best feed quality. Something else ive noticed and wondered about is how you manage 4 pens of cows based on DIM but feed only 1 batch of feed. The robot would allow you to feed each group more efficiently
Eric, it sounds like you and your dad have done your homework. I also find it interesting that the “circle” is coming back around to using upright silos. Sixty years ago we used two 60’ Harvestore silos for corn and hay and a forty foot high moisture corn for the dairy. A herd of 120 dairy and another 100 or so heifers. With self-feeding bunkers it was a nice system for its day. The best of luck and wishing God’s blessings for you all.
Others have expressed some concerns that I have, and mine all are concerned with the silos. Potential feed compaction issues due to that height, filling the silo with that height, and a new one..making SURE that the footings are DESIGNED ON YOUR GROUND to hold that load. You don't need a "Leaning Tower of Pisa'. Make sure that you also have a plan for locating more silos when you expand! haha. Good Luck, I think its a great endeavor!
It will be interesting to see how it works out for you. I've never seen a system like that with so many spread out barns. That leaves me with a few questions. How do you do the feeding on the rented farm? Have you considered a selfpropelled mixer and if yes what spoke against it? Cause from an outside look it would fit your current feeding and barn setup quite nicely.
There is nothing wrong with upright silos. GO BIG.....BIG. My cousin who was milking 300 cow plus young stock and steers was using a 24X90 , 18X80, 20X70' 20X60. It might be possible to save some money by expanding the silos you have. Harvestores can have additional panels added at the bottom, I've seen their new unloader and it moves HUGE amounts of forage. In an earlier episode you said the 20X50 unloader was shot. Add 30 feet to that silo plus the new unloader. The stave silos can easily be added onto. Add 20 feet onto them plus numerous additional rods between the existing ones. The Patz chain type unloader has huge volume compared with auger type unloaders.
Consider if adding onto your 4 existing silos would increase the storage enough to equal one of the new proposed silos, how would cost compare?
Remember climate change is messing with the weather. If you can manage to produce and store an additional years worth or more that buffer will allow you to ride out a couple years of below average production. It worked for Joseph and he had to deal with 7 bad years.
Enjoy your exciting year ahead, from a retired dairy farmer down under in Australia. Love to be there to witness the project develop, I will be glued to you tube watching your videos of this project
The earth is flat
So will the existing silos be incorporated into the system as well?
I work on a farm that uses silos and silage piles. The pile is nice for quickness of feeding, but I believe that’s where the advantage of the pile stops. Some people say tower silos are labor intensive. I would say managing plastic and tires and all the fuel, and wear and tear on equipment that is invested in packing a pile Makes it more labor-intensive. Silos do have their issues as well. But I believe with a well managed regular maintenance program. This system will be good for your farm
Your idea is great. I've seen the vector and they are best paired with silos. The main concern for me would be corn silage moisture. We always would shoot for 60% moisture for silo. With bags or bunkers it's easier to get that 65-70 moisture the cows really like. And I'm glad it's not me having to climb that 132 foot silo. Nothing better happen to you, because nobody else is going to want that job on a cold winter day!
Yes moisture was a concern of ours too but I've talked to several dairies that do very well feeding 55% stuff out of the bottom of big silos.
You are absolutely crazy - crazy smart. We love that your ideas appear to be well thought out. Glad you were able to visit others with the same setup!
How are you going to feed the cows at the other farm? Great idea with upright silos for the robot, i think you don’t gain much time with using silage bunks with the vector, and you lose on feed freshness. But it’s kinda sad to abandon great silage bunks.