ADVERTISING FEATURE
The Atlex Stockyards team comprising designers Ian Crafter, Tom Austin and Sam Clements, have been busy meeting the demand for the Atlex On-Property Design Service as livestock producers look at investing in infrastructure upgrades and replacement.
Atlex specialize in working closely with farmers in incorporating existing features such as sheds, trees and laneways into a more efficient, tailor-made stockyard
It is 32 years since Ian Crafter created Atlex Stockyards and initiated the concept of the On-Property Yard Design Process from his Horsham farm.
The pioneering design process included site assessment and Computer Aided Design (CAD), firstly using AutoSketch, then AutoCad.
Atlex followed up with the introduction of Total Base Station survey equipment to ensure accuracy of the customised design.
This robotic equipment can draw all the existing infrastructure, trees etc, which are which are to be incorporated in the new design.
“The main benefit of an on-property design is taking advantage of 32 years of Atlex experience.
The yards can be designed as a renovation to an existing facility, built in stages to suit your budget or totally replace old yards with new.
“Farmers can no longer rely on other people helping, so good facilities are essential in getting the job done properly and on time,” Ian Crafter said.
“Fitting a new set of sheepyards into a small, difficult location was the challenge many farmers didn’t have an instant answer to.”
Bert, Barb, Dion & Chelsea Woolford from "Karawatha Park Stud", Kimba, South Australia are amazed.
“We did not imagine that the investment we were about to make in our new Atlex yards would have such a big impact on our sheep operation.
“Working with sheep is now an absolute pleasure. No stress, more efficient, and every operation is completed in much less time,” Bert Woolford said.
“Our sheep work has become a lot faster and we look forward to our sheep work now. The drafting is fast, the double classing race has more than halved the time taken to class sheep and the flow of sheep through the yards is a vast improvement.”
One issue of particular importance over this time has been the need to address longstanding Occupational Health and Safety issues, encouraging farmers to recognize that efficient, well designed facilities make their sheep work so much more enjoyable, safer and profitable.
“As the average age of the farming population increases, farmers are struggling with stock to undertake routine management operations such as drenching and vaccinating, and it is taking a toll on their physical health, particularly their back,” Mr Crafter said.
Atlex Stockyards
1800 805 292: stockyards@atlex.com.au: www.atlex.com.au
