With the continuous flow system, we average around 6 tons an hour, but I can let it run all day if I need to—10 hours, no problem. At the end of the day, we’re actually getting a lot more feed made because I can start it, punch in a few buttons, and walk away while it keeps going.
That’s the biggest advantage over a batch system. With batch, you really can’t walk away. With this, I load my hand-add ingredients, hit start, and go do something else. I’m working while the mill is working.
I’m just so much more efficient.
We actually bought our system used back in 2009, and it’s still working great. Seeing the new equipment now is pretty impressive, but we started selling most of our pigs at around 35 pounds, so I don’t think we will need to upgrade anytime soon.
Honestly, if you’re thinking about putting in a feed mill, I’d tell you to go with a continuous flow system like this. It’s so scalable. Whether you need to run it for a couple of hours or twenty hours, it fits your operation. I don’t think it matters how big your farm is.