Sheep weighed and drafted and not a dog or person to be seen

As difficulties persist in accessing skilled labour, one man has developed an innovative machine to draft lambs.

The ability to draft lambs in a feedlot without going near them will save stress and labour, according to its inventor, Justin Dunn.

Shepherd Ag’s auto feedlot drafter could allow producers to quickly jump on contracts as soon as they are released, thanks to the information collected.

Mr Dunn’s drafter was prompted by the difficulty accessing skilled labour.

Justin Dunn from Temora with his auto sheep drafter, which allows feedlot lambs to be drafted into different weight groups automatically. Picture: Supplied

“We started inventing things that could do what we do, but also have the ability to monitor on phone apps so we can watch exactly what goes on,” Mr Dunn said.

The auto feedlot drafter is not designed to take the place of an auto handler, which is still used for induction of lambs as well as the final weighing before lambs are sold.

But in the feedlot situation, it allows lambs to move from one weight group to another.

“What we know is that every time we push lambs through an autodrafter, it costs time, and there is the stress for the lambs in handling and the risk of injury to lambs and dogs and people,” Mr Dunn said.

“This machine in the feedlot allows the heavier sheep to keep moving forward - they step onto the auto feedlot drafter, get weighed, and if they meet the target weight, get drafted into the next pen.

“If they don’t meet the critical weight, then they go back into the same pen.”

The incentive for the lambs to walk into the drafter is a salt lick, and while they stand to access it, the weight is taken.

This weight is considered more accurate as the lambs are standing rather than jumping around, and then the weight is sent to an app on a phone.

“The other big benefit is at any one time, on my app, I know how many sheep I have in each weight band,” Mr Dunn said.

Knowing how many lambs are within each weight range at a given time in a feedlot can pay off. Picture: Supplied

“But more than that, it removes the bullying and negative effects of sheep being in among animals that are larger of them, so you start to lose shy feeder effect.”

Ideally, each pen has an autodraft so that lambs move through the system without needing to be brought in to be weighed.

“It is an outstanding monitoring tool, see how many lambs in each weight band,” Mr Dunn said.

“So if a lamb contract opens and closes in a couple of hours, I know how many sheep I have got straight away.

“But if I have to go and take from pen and put through the handler, by the time I do (the) number crunch, the contract could be gone.

The auto feedlot drafter last week was highly commended at the Henty Machinery Field Days machine of the year awards and as a stand-alone unit, costs about $10,000.