In a feedlot without an automated batch box, the sequence is always the same: the truck comes back from the bunk, pulls up at the feed mill, and waits while the loader operator brings the ingredients in one by one. Only then does it leave for the next delivery.
That waiting time repeats on every round, every day, and never shows up in any report.
What batch box automation changes
The batch box is the dosing box that sits between the storage and the truck, at the feed mill. Automated, it lets both jobs happen at the same time:
While the truck is at the bunk, the loader operator is already filling the batch box with the ingredients for the next batch.
When the truck comes back, the ingredients already loaded are transferred straight into it. No waiting.
The gain is not in accuracy — it is in time. The truck stops sitting idle waiting to be loaded, and runs more deliveries in the same day.
The automation controls every ingredient loaded
Each ingredient that enters the box is weighed and recorded. It is not just a box being filled — it is a stage of the ration that gets documented, with the same rigour as weighing on the mixer.
This matters because the batch box sits upstream of the truck in the chain. If an ingredient goes in wrong there, the error carries through to the mix, to the delivery and to the bunk — and reaches the report as a consistent number calculated on a wrong basis.
The same computer as the trucks, in a rack
Batch box automation uses the same on-board computer we install on the delivery trucks, with the same technical specification. What changes is the installation: instead of going on board the vehicle, it goes into a rack mounted beside the box, at the feed mill.
In practice, that means anyone who already knows the truck screen does not have to learn another system. It is the same interface, built to the same standard — IP68 protection, no cooling fan, aluminium housing.
One panel for up to two boxes
The same automation screen can handle up to two batch boxes. Where the feed mill runs two boxes in parallel, this lowers the cost per box on the installation.
Integration with the management system
Batch box automation integrates with the FarmTell platform by dsm-firmenich. What is loaded into the box goes into the feedlot management system, with no manual typing and no parallel spreadsheet.
Running a different system? Check compatibility with us — we look at the configuration your case needs.
Where it is installed
At the feed mill, at the loading point — beside the batch box, where the loader operator works and the truck pulls up.