Environdata offers a weather monitoring and service package specifically designed for feedlots, to help you to boost profits and minimise your time and effort. Intensive animal production industries such as feedlots are significantly affected by climatic influences.
We can help you to manage their impact by:
- Monitoring HLI, THI & AHLU to help minimise stock loss in the case of an extreme heat event.
- Increasing productivity by optimising feed intake and conversion through the correlation of feed records and weather data.
- Tracking the path that dust and odour will take, to reduce the possibility of or defend complaints from neighbours.
- Maintaining accurate records to help rebut legal or duty of care issues - monitoring your site's microclimate is a practical precaution.
Environdata has been developing and making weather stations and sensors customised for Australia's tough conditions since 1982. We are committed to improving weather monitoring services to the feedlot industry, and to taking the 'hard yakka' out of this valuable information delivery.
Why Microclimate?
Microclimate, as the name suggests, is the climate in your immediate region, and this is the climate information that an Environdata weather station can provide for you. It is the specific climate that you and your livestock experience. Synoptic [regional] weather patterns are useful, and valuable in gaining some idea of coming weather trends. However, microclimate monitoring is invaluable because the microclimate ultimately affects you and your livestock. Weather data and/or forecasts reported from the nearest town, or a site even further away can and do vary by very large margins from your specific site. They also have limited value in supporting any claim or adverse event concerning your particular operation.
Advanced calculations
Custom calculations can be added to your weather station to provide 'virtual' sensors to help monitor your microclimate, and specifically for monitoring heat load. These calculations include:
- THI Temperature Humidity Index
- HLI Heat Load Index
- AHLU Accumulated Heat Load Units
- Evaporation Current evaporation rate, and total evaporation for the day.
Temperature Humidity Index(THI), Heat Load Index (HLI) and Accumulated Heat Load Units (AHLU) - are extremely important measures of animal comfort. As the animals start to experience even mild heat stress their feed uptake drops, weight gain slows, fertility rates drop, and in dairy cows the milk production also drops. As the heat stress worsens the animals can die. By monitoring the heat stress conditions on site with your own weather station, you have the ability to implement management plans to avoid the worst effects of heat stress. Even one heat event managed correctly can pay for the cost of the weather station. In times when heat stress isn't an issue you can use the information to link animal comfort to feed consumption & live-weight gain
The evaporation rate is a measure of loss of surface moisture within the pen, also affecting in-pen humidity readings and thus, cattle comfort. It is also useful in irrigation scheduling.
An Environdata weather station can also provide you with wind vector and sigma theta analysis (an analysis of wind trajectories) to monitor airborne odour or dust movement for EPA and legal requirements.
Selecting Environdata as your Feedlot Weather Station provider gives you access to:
- Professional selection and siting of appropriate monitoring equipment to fulfill your information requirements.
- Annual or on-demand on-site servicing throughout most of Australia
- Ethical business dealings and client confidentiality
- Long term commitment to investment in new services and technologies for your industry
- Equipment installation - a "no hassles" approach, ensuring siting is appropriate and meets Australian standards if required.
