The Rural Voice, 1994-06, Page 42MIDWEST ... Builds Better Silos
CONTINUSTORE
- Top of the line bottom unloading oxygen controlled silo.
- Breather bags, full access rugged Little David unloader.
ECONOSTORE
- Economical High Moisture Corn Silos with your choice
of unloader.
CONVENTIONAL
- Exclusive large intermittent hinged door system.
- 4' forming system.
- Larger chute for easier climbing.
- Optional outside doors.
EXPERIENCE
MIDWEST SILO - All silos built with experienced crews and the quality
SYSTEMS LIMITED
you have come to expect from Midwest Silo Systems.
EQUIPMENT
(519) 656-2340 - Full line of T.M.R. Mixers and Farmstead Equipment.
P.O. BOX 280, WELLESLEY, ONT. NOB 2T0
Be the best, not the biggest, the
philosophy at Lowry Farm systems
Trying to save money can cost
you money if you're a dairy
farmer into TMR, says Lynn
Lowry of Lowry Farm Systems at
Amberley.
Lowry is pointing out the need
for a good scale when you are
mixing a ration. A mixer, he says,
is a piece of equipment. A scale is
a management tool. If a mixer is
worth $20,000 a scale is worth half
that, he says. "People are overly
generous when they go to feed
their cows." Concentrate is worth a
lot of money, he points out and it's
not doing either the cow or the
farmer a lot of good if it is wasted.
Many farmers say they can pay for
a TMR system in three years and
some can do it in a lot less with
the help of a good scale, he says.
Lowry carries Luck/Now and
Oswalt TMR mixers and the J -Star
scale, which he feels is the most
reliable.
Lowry feels some farmers
should also be more serious about
dealing with manure handling
38 THE RURAL VOCE
problems. There are grants
available now but these may
someday disappear. Lowry carries
Houle equipment that can take dry
manure from a tie -stall system,
chop it and add water and pump it
to a lagoon or storage tank. Houle
also designs systems for handling
dry -storage runoff and waste from
milk house systems.
Research shows farmers
should also be looking at the value
of vertical silos over bunk silos, he
says. "The lost feed in a bunk
system over a 20 -year period is
just amazing," he says.
He offers equipment to
replace the original bottom -
unloading equipment in
sealed silos which is becoming
costly to repair, turning the silo
into a top -unloading system.
Lowry Farm systems was
started 28 years ago this summer.
"Instead of getting to be the
biggest guy on the block, we're
trying to be the best guy on the
block," says Lowry.0
Midwest Silo Systems
marks 20 years
in the dairy industry
One silo may look like
another when you're driving
down the road but for a
leading silo building company like
Midwest Silo Systems Limited at
Wellesley, 20 years in the
business means being ready to
change with the needs of farmers.
When the company started out,
says Cal Schmidt, it specialized in
oxygen controlled, bottom -
unloading silos. That was back in
the time when dairy farmers were
managing with a goal of increasing
butterfat production. Today the
goal is increasing protein so
farmers are using a larger corn
silage component in their rations
and more farmers are looking to
traditional, top -unloading silos.
"You have to stay on top of the
trends and respond to what the
customer needs," Schmidt says.
He's in his 30th year in the
business, having started as a
summer student. That kind of
experience helps the company to
continue to make improvements in
its designs. This year it has
introduced a larger chute to make
it easier and safer to climb to the
top. There is also the option of
outside doors that can be installed
every few feet on the silo, an
additional safety and convenience
feature.
Servicing all those bottom
unloading systems it built is an
important part of Midwest's work.
"We really pride ourselves in our
service," Schmidt says. For
today's systems the company
installs TMR equipment and
unloading equipment.
The company's expertise isn't
confined to farm silos. A related
company, MWI Silo Systems Inc.,
has built industrial silos as far
away as Peace River, Alberta and
Prince Edward Island and as large
as 60 by 148 feet.
Schmidt is the only Canadian
ever to head the International Silo
Association and is current
president of the Ontario Silo
Association.0