TMR Feed Mixing: Why Dairy and Beef Farms Switch From Separate Feeding
Most small and medium cattle farms feed in parts: hay in the morning, silage at midday, concentrate in the evening. It looks efficient because each job is simple, but it creates a hidden problem. Cows eat selectively — they pick out the palatable concentrate and push the coarse forage aside. The ration you calculated on paper is not the ration the cow actually eats.
1. What a TMR mixer actually solves
| Separate feeding | TMR (Total Mixed Ration) |
|---|---|
| Cows sort and leave coarse forage | Every mouthful contains the full ration |
| Some cows overeat concentrate, others under-eat | Intake is consistent across the herd |
| Rumen pH swings; risk of acidosis | Stable rumen environment |
| Feeding takes several passes a day | One mixed batch covers the ration |
| Hard to add minerals, by-products or urea evenly | Minor ingredients distribute evenly through the mix |
The result is usually measured in milk yield stability, better body condition and fewer digestive problems — not a dramatic jump, but a reliable reduction in the expensive variability.
2. The mixer types and where each fits
| Type | How it mixes | Herd size fit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TMR feed mixing machine | Vertical or horizontal auger blends forage, silage and concentrate | Small to large herds | The standard choice for dairy and beef |
| Drum mixer | Rotating drum tumbles and blends the ration | Small herds, batch mixing | Simple, gentle, good for smaller volumes |
| Rotary mixer | Rotating chamber with internal mixing action | Medium herds | Uniform blend, suited to mixed rations |
| Flat mouth mixing machine | Wide mouth for easy loading of bulky forage | Small to medium | Faster loading with a front loader |
For a farm with a small herd and a tractor loader, a drum or flat-mouth mixer is often enough. For a dairy unit feeding a formulated ration daily, a dedicated TMR mixer pays for itself in ration accuracy.
3. What changes on the farm when you switch
- Feeding becomes one routine. Load ingredients, mix, deliver. Fewer passes, less labour, and a predictable daily schedule.
- The ration you formulate is the ration you feed. Mixing removes selective eating, which is the single largest source of unexplained production variation.
- By-products become usable. Brewers grain, citrus pulp, molasses and other wet by-products can be blended evenly instead of being hand-mixed or discarded.
- Animal handling improves. A cattle restraining frame makes routine checks, treatment and weighing safer and faster, which matters more once the herd is on a managed ration.
- Waste falls. Feed that is eaten rather than sorted out is money not spent twice.
4. Mixing order and time matter more than the machine
- Load coarse forage first when the mixer has knives or augers that shorten long material.
- Add wet by-products next so they absorb and blend into the dry components.
- Add concentrate and minerals last so they distribute through the whole batch rather than sitting at the bottom.
- Mix long enough to blend, short enough not to over-process. Over-mixing turns forage into mush, which changes rumen behaviour. Follow the manufacturer's recommended mixing time.
- Check the blend. Take a handful from different parts of the batch — a uniform mix should look the same everywhere.
5. Capacity sizing
| Herd size (head) | Typical daily ration volume | Mixer guidance |
|---|---|---|
| 10–30 | Small | Small drum or flat-mouth mixer, one batch per feeding |
| 30–80 | Medium | Rotary or small TMR mixer, one to two batches per feeding |
| 80–200 | Large | Larger TMR mixer, two batches per feeding |
| 200+ | Very large | High-capacity TMR mixer or multiple units |
Size for the batch you can deliver in one trip, not for total daily volume. A mixer that requires two batches and two delivery trips is doing the work twice.
6. Common mistakes
- Mixing too long. Over-processing forage reduces effective fibre and changes rumen function. Mix to blend, then stop.
- Loading concentrate first into an empty mixer. It sticks and compresses before the forage arrives. Order matters.
- Ignoring weigh scales. Without scales, "a bucket of this, a bucket of that" recreates the variability the mixer was bought to remove.
- Buying a mixer larger than the loader can fill quickly. Loading time becomes the bottleneck and the mixer sits half-used.
- Neglecting knife and auger maintenance. Blunt knives and worn augers mix unevenly before they fail visibly.
FAQ
- Does a TMR mixer work for small herds?
- Yes, though the return grows with herd size. For 10–30 head, a small drum or flat-mouth mixer is often the realistic entry point, and mixing still removes selective eating.
- Can I mix silage in a TMR mixer?
- Yes — silage is a core ingredient. Load it after the coarse forage so the mixer can distribute it evenly rather than letting it clump.
- How long should a batch take to mix?
- Follow the manufacturer's recommendation, usually a few minutes after the last ingredient is loaded. The goal is a uniform blend, not a fine chop. Longer mixing is not better mixing.
- Do I need weigh scales on the mixer?
- Strongly recommended. Weighing is what makes the ration reproducible. Without scales, the mixer removes sorting but not the day-to-day variability in ingredient amounts.
- What power does a TMR mixer need?
- Small drum and flat-mouth mixers can run on tractor PTO or modest electric motors. Larger TMR mixers generally require substantial three-phase power or a tractor PTO. Confirm the drive option before ordering.
Upgrade your feeding routine: browse our TMR feed mixing machines, drum mixers, rotary mixers and cattle restraining frames — tell us your herd size and ration and we will recommend a matched mixer within 24 hours.