Timperlea’s impressed with the game-changing Auto Weigher

Heralding it as a potential game changer, Marie Fitzpatrick has been impressed by the StrongBó Auto Weigher from Gallagher Animal Management.

Marie, an Angus breeder at Timperlea Angus near Oxford, trialled the Auto Weigher for six weeks to capture and track the weight of yearling bull V43, the star in Gallagher’s Weight Worth Watching competition, run in partnership with AngusNZ.

Timperlea currently uses a Gallagher TW-3 weigh scale and HR4 EID reader to capture data. They weigh their mobs regularly to stay on top of growth rates - a vital but time-consuming process. That’s where the Auto Weigher comes in, offering a reliable, time-saving alternative, providing frequent and accurate data without constant manual intervention.

Monitoring daily gain is a major priority for Timperlea, and Marie can see how the Auto Weigher would help provide some powerful insight in this space. “It’s been pretty exciting to see how regularly they actually use it,” she says. Within the first 4 days, 80% of the mob had weights recorded against their EIDs, with one bull notably visiting the Auto Weigher 14 times. As this data builds over time, we start to see a clearer picture vital for assessing the performance of the herd and making informed management decisions.

The accuracy of weight data from the Auto Weigher stood out to Marie during the trial. Before it began, she manually weighed the mob to establish a baseline, and when comparing those figures to the Auto Weigher results, the difference was minimal - just a few kilograms on average. Regular weigh sessions continued throughout the trial, with V43 consistently recording weights within 3.7% to 0.2% of those manual results. For Marie, this gave her confidence that the system could deliver reliable data without disrupting her routine.

She has also been impressed by how easy the Auto Weigher is to set up. “I actually thought it would be bulkier than it is,” Marie explains. “It's just a wee trailer that you offload. It basically has some salt blocks in it and the animal’s front two feet step on it, then you get a weight straight into the app.” The timesaving on manual data entry and checking is an added bonus she appreciates too.

Marie can see real potential in the Auto Weigher. “It’s quite a cool piece of technology that would be a real game changer for some farmers, especially leading into that period of getting that rising plane into mating, and making sure that they maintain it for that four weeks post. It would be invaluable for the returns they could get back.”