Mixer Design

There are approximately 25 different mixer manufacturers in the market, and in general, the mixers seem to be doing an adequate job of mixing a TMR. There has been only a handful of cases where the mixer design failed to do the job, and those mixers quickly left the market.  In other cases, the mixers were used improperly (over or under mixing) which caused nutritional problems for the dairy herds. The mixer design that works best for one farm may not be the best choice for a different farm. The question “Is there a best mixer design?” is open for discussion, debate and personal opinion. A better question would be “Which mixer is better for my situation?”

There are certainly design differences in the mixers available. Design changes are driven by market and consumer demand. Take for example the consumer demand that a mixer should be able to handle the addition of long dry hay into the ration. This has impacted the design changes of many of the mixers on today’s market.  In less than 5 years this design goal has produced mixers that can process either a little hay or a lot of hay. This particular design change has caused another potential problem with misuse; particle size reduction with too long a mixing time.

Mixer design is still primarily a trial and error process with due consideration given to prior experience.  The manufacturer selects a specific mixer design that is expected to perform and field tests determine design changes and their effect on the mix.