announcing the new patent pending
high moisture corn feeder for milking robots
The new hmc feeder
has arrived!
See Your Return On Investment In Less Than 6 Months!
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great benefits & features
“This concept has an enormous opportunity for our farmers to save money without sacrificing production or animal well-being, but there is a huge challenge in handling the HMC. To maximize the nutritional benefits of high moisture corn, it should be harvested between 23-28% moisture, run through a hammermill to have it ground into small particles, and then stored for fermentation. But, this creates a feed that does not flow well in automated systems and traditional robotic feeding technology, not to mention it has a short shelf life when exposed to air. Our new system was designed to overcome that obstacle, making HMC a viable solution to robotic milking operations.” - Brad Biehl, President of AMS Galaxy USA & co-inventor of the HMC system.
Farm-raised & stored product; no trucking/delivery issues or costs.
Palatability is better than most robot pellet blends.
Cows can eat HMC faster than dry grain commodity mixes.
Highly available starch.
No bridging or clogging.
Can fit any milking robot brand.
DEALERS
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An on-farm research trial evaluated the feasibility of feeding high moisture corn in an automatic milking system.
The use of a single pelleted feed being fed through an AMS is driven by ease of dispensing it in the robot. While feeding pelleted feeds has been demonstrated to be an effective management strategy, the pellets can cost $340, or more, per ton. There is interest from dairy farmers in finding ways to improve income over feed costs by utilizing alternative feeds that can be fed through AMS. High moisture corn (HMC) is one alternative; when harvested, stored, and managed correctly it has many desirable qualities. It is palatable, nutritious, available, and according to Penn State Extension research, a typical cost of production on Pennsylvania farms is approximately $60 per ton, making it more affordable than pelleted feed. The biggest challenge of feeding HMC through most AMS is ensuring that it is dispensed evenly and does not bridge or clog the feeder.
Substantial cost savings (and thus greater profits). Initial testing has shown a potential $4,528.00 per month saving of feed cost in a 129-cow robotic dairy.
So...what is the problem?
NOT ENOUGH PROFIT!
The cost of a pellet ranges from $0.15 to $0.25 per lb. The average amount pellet of a robot farm is 10lbs / cow average. Let’s put some monthly expense to these costs for different size dairies:
- 125 cow dairy – $5,718/month
- 250 cow dairy – $11,437/month
- 500 cow dairy – $22,875/month
- 1,000 cow dairy – $45,750/month
- 5,000 cow dairy – $228,125/month
Penn State University has done a study looking at more than 100 farms cost of production. In comparison to the cost above, High Moisture Shelled Corn averages $.03/lb.
replace the pellet being fed in the robot with High Moisture Shelled Corn!
Introducing the new patent pending high moisture corn feeder
the new numbers
- 125 cow dairy – $1,316/month
- 250 cow dairy – $2,631/month
- 500 cow dairy – $5,262/month
- 1,000 cow dairy – $10,524/month
- 5,000 cow dairy – $52,621/month
If that same dairy was able to drive cows to the robot with high moisture shelled corn the cost to the dairy would be $.03/lb x 10lbs average x 30.5 days x number cows.
After rebalancing the ration to add back the protein with soybean meal at $0.18/lb the savings
- 125 cow dairy – Monthly Savings – $4,388
- 250 cow dairy – Monthly Savings – $8,775
- 500 cow dairy – Monthly Savings – $17,550
- 1,000 cow dairy – Monthly Savings – $35,101
- 5,000 cow dairy – Monthly Savings – $175,504
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the pros & cons
high moisture shell corn
pros
Homegrown starch source cows will readily consume and highly digestible. Feeding alone or with a protein source, cow traffic should be maintained and higher levels of feed can be fed to supply the needs of the top-producing cows.
cons
More difficult to process and handle than dry corn, high-moisture corn may have trouble flowing through some feed systems and must be processed and fed regularly to avoid heating and spoilage. Producers may need a different level of processing for feed in the PMR fed at the feedbunk and the high-moisture corn fed in the robot.
In the following progressive dairyman article it mentions these pros and cons of trying to feed high moisture corn in a robot.
how it all started
brad biehl's story
When I was growing up, my family milked our cows in a in a tie stall barn. Our cows were fed a balanced partial mixed ration of corn silage, alfalfa haylage, and roasted soybeans. My dad had a feed cart (un powered – no automation) that had to compartments and a home-made wood top on it that he could use to close it up each day to keep the barn cats out. I remember sitting on top of the wood section as he filled the main compartment with rolled high moisture corn from our Harvestsore silo and the front part was filled with soybean meal. He looked at a DHIA production sheet from the previous milk test which told him how much milk each cow was producing. On that sheet he marked up “full scoop” or “half scoop”. I remember playing in these farm grown commodities like I was in a sand box as dad pushed the feed cart around the barn and manually top dressed the cows, feeding them according to production.
35 years later, the basic philosophy of feeding cows is very similar at many robot farms except we are feeding grain with formulated pellet automatically.
Brad Biehl – 1985 playing in a wagon load of High Moisture Shelled Corn as his grandmother, Mildred Biehl, unloads the wagon into the farm’s Harvestore silo.
I emptied our pellet bin and augured some HMC in the bottom of the bin.
5 hours later, sweated, frustrated, I finally got all of the HMC out of the bin, the flex auger, and robot feeding system. It was a disaster. However, I knew I could not give up. I then sent emails outlining my project problem statement to 2 different feeding / grain handling companies. Both replied and told me what I wanted to do was too challenging…and neither vendor showed interest.
Professional Farm Financial Advisors are challenging robot farm owners to cut costs by $300/cow per year and this is how it can be done.
“I sat down at the kitchen counter and after a bunch of sketches, I made a simple sketch of a concept idea that became the birth of the Galaxy HMC feeding system. I quickly invited a small team of people together to brainstorm with me. Eric Hoover, Kevin Hoover, and Jason Martin. Together, we designed the geometry, sized the equipment, and programmed the logic that would control this new equipment to feed cows just the way my dad did 35 years ago, but with all robotic technology and automation 2020 has to offer.”
