Weighing instruments have always been important in agriculture as farmers sell their meat and grains mostly based on weights. Hence, reliable and accurate weighing instruments are used to guarantee the right price for the products. The last decades weighing instruments
are used to automate activities such as animal feeding system.
Nowadays, weighing instruments are becoming more important in agriculture. European agriculture faces many challenges with respect to the environment, food safety, profitability and animal welfare. Weighing instrument help European farmers to tackle these challenges
by making European agriculture more sustainable and profitable.
EXAMPLES WHERE WEIGHING INSTRUMENTS ARE USED
In the dairy sector weighing instruments are used to monitor the behaviour of each specific cow. The feed intake and milk production of a cow that arrives at a milking robot is measured for each cow separately. This makes it possible to analyse the data and making decisions focused on a single cow. For example, this can be used by noticing via weighing instruments when a cow eats less due to illness, allowing for early detection of sick animals. By treating sick animals earlier farmers can improve the welfare of the animals.
Unnecessary use of fertilizers should be limited for various environmental reasons. It is currently possible to analyse with modern software and imaging equipment how much fertilizer should be spread at which part of the field. Certain parts should receive a normal portion of fertilizer and certain parts should receive less or no fertilizer at all. Modern fertilizer spreaders are able to provide this amount of fertilizer with high precision due
to weighing instruments that work accurate and fast. This way weighing instruments contribute to a reduction of fertilizer use and helping the environment.
Precision farming technologies can analyse the yields on different parts of the fields. To make these analyses data is necessary about these yields. Weighing instruments
are able to measure quickly the weight when installed in balers that collect the hay. This information can be stored and used the year after to provide the right quantity of plant protection products and fertilizers on each part of the field. Weighing instruments enable these analyses.
THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE AND THE ROLE OF WEIGHING INSTRUMENTS
In the future, the role of weighing instruments becomes more and more important. Precision agriculture is becoming the new standard. This requires monitoring of each specific animal and part of the land and providing the right quantity at the right place at the right time. To do this high-quality equipment is needed that can automatically measure certain aspects and provide the right quantity. The European weighing industry provides the equipment to enable farmers to work in the era of precision farming.
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