Te Pari’s Racewell Auto Sheep Drafter is bringing faster and quieter sheep drafting to a New South Wales stud
The on-farm benefits of the Racewell Auto Drafter are obvious for Burrawang Dorper Stud operator Malcolm Brady.
Based at Burrawang in the NSW Southern Highlands, Brady – a former livestock agent – says the switch away from a “catch and grab and weigh” system has reduced labour pressure while improving animal flow and drafting accuracy.
“Quiet operation was a big part of what we liked, they flow through quickly, it’s very good and all done three-ways without a worry.” Brady says.
Designed for high-throughput sheep weighing and drafting, the Racewell Auto Sheep Drafter can automatically weigh and draft sheep based on weight and other criteria set in the scale system, and it integrates with widely used indicators including Tru-Test, Gallagher and Te Pari.
Operators can also draft manually by sight, using the top-mounted controls or the hand-held remote, allowing control from the yards or race.
“One staff member can weigh 500 lambs in around an hour and a half, and the best thing is the sheep want to run through it,” Brady says.
Racewell sheep drafters can be operated by a single person and can be set up to read EID tags, weigh and sort sheep automatically via the connected scale indicator.
Models are available in three-way and five-way configurations, supporting commercial jobs as well as stud selection where more drafting options are required.
The drafter’s low entry height and visibility through the machine are designed to encourage flow.
Once a sheep steps in, automated gates close for weighing, then release after the weight is captured.
For more information on Te Pari’s Racewell Auto Sheep Drafters, visit www.tepari.com
