YOU are being invited to vote for the best innovation in the feedlot industry through the Australian Lot Feeders Association (ALFA) Innovation Competition.

Since 2023 ALFA has used the competition to recognise and celebrate the clever ideas and innovations that are incorporated into day-to-day feedlot operations.

All creations in the competition are required to cost less than $5000, and the innovation should help to save labour or deliver improved accuracy, efficiency and/or safety in the day-to-day operation of the feedlot.

Ten finalists have been selected for this year’s competition, with the winning innovation to be selected by popular vote through an online voting system currently underway, with voting closing on 21 August.

Readers can vote on their favourite innovation here. To vote for your favourite entry, simply click the ‘heart’ button on the post (this indicates a vote).

The top four most ‘hearted’ entries will be offered a complimentary full delegate ticket to attend BeefEx at the Gold Coast in September.

The winner and runner-up will be announced at BeefEx, held on 22 – 24 September at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The overall winner will receive a prize of $2,500 and the runner up $1,000.

Here is a brief summary of the innovations:

Koojan Downs Feedlot – ‘Skid Steer Fence Line Scraper (pivot head)’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

Low profile pen scraper with a pivot point on the front, tensioned by four springs to provide movement when scraping around concrete fence footings, tight spots and uneven ground. It minimises excessive force on the scraper and skid steer, reduces damage to fence footings and posts, and lets one scraper clean narrow spacings that would otherwise need multiple scraper sizes.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

• Minimises excessive force on the scraper and skid steer.
• Reduces damage to fence footings & posts.
• Gives the ability to clean in narrow spacings because of the pivoting head, reducing the need for multiple size scrapers.

Cost of Innovation:

$50 in consumables, everything else from scrap metal (approx $150)

Cleveland Ag Feedlot – ‘Pen Pilot’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

PenPilot is a feedlot management app that allows pen riders to record daily tasks, including ridden pens, cattle pulls, trough cleaning, notes, and maintenance issues. It stores the information digitally, creates an end-of-day report, and keeps outstanding maintenance jobs active until they are completed.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

PenPilot solves the challenge of inefficient and inconsistent record keeping for feedlot pen riders. Many daily tasks, such as recording ridden pens, cattle pulls, trough cleaning, and maintenance issues, are often tracked on paper or across multiple systems. This can lead to missed tasks, lost information, and poor communication between staff. PenPilot provides a single digital platform where riders can record their work in real time, ensuring important information is stored accurately, easily accessed, and shared with the rest of the team.

Cost of Innovation:

The app was developed using free software, including Visual Studio Code, Expo and React Native for coding assistance. There were no direct development costs other than the time invested in designing, building, and testing the application. If the app were developed commercially, costs would include developer wages, testing, maintenance, hosting, and future updates.

An example of Cleveland Ag Feedlot’s PenPilot app.

Condabri Feedlot – ‘The Bunk Wheel’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

A wheel designed to run along a feed bunk, allowing the allocator to get a closer look at the bunk without damaging the call vehicle.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

It solves the problem of the call vehicle scraping along the bunk while trying to accurately estimate how cattle are eating.

Cost of Innovation:

Approximately $1000

The Bunk Wheel created by Conabri Feedlot.

Whyalla Feedlot – ‘Elevator Pressure Water’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

Fits onto the base of any bucket elevator, using three high-pressure nozzles to direct water into the buckets and prevent blockages. Bucket elevators carrying tempered or flaked grain need regular cleaning to avoid grain build-up, germination risk, and blockages — a normally messy, time-consuming, labour-heavy task. This unit operates unsupervised once fitted, and is effective, safe, and reduces water usage.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

Bucket elevators that carry tempered or flaked grain require regular cleaning to avoid accumulation of grain, risk of germination and blockages. Water is generally used for cleaning elevators, requiring labour. The task is messy and time consuming. Once fitted, the Elevator Pressure Washer can operate without supervision. It is effective, safe and reduces water usage. We love it!

Cost of Innovation:

$330

Whyalla Feedlot’s ‘Elevator Pressure Water’ Innovation.

Wainui Feedlot – ‘Fence Cleaning Attachment’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

A fence-pulling attachment fabricated in-house from recycled materials, designed to be handled by the grapple of a 4-in-1 bucket on a standard skid steer. It lets one machine do work that previously required two, and its mounting system reduces the risk of digging into the pen base — unlike commercial attachments with cutting edges that can damage manure pad integrity and drainage. Benefits include reduced equipment needs, improved workflow efficiency, cost and time savings, and better animal health/welfare outcomes through more frequent, less disruptive pen cleaning.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

This innovation has addressed two key challenges within the feedlot pen cleaning process. Firstly, it has significantly reduced the risks associated with commercially manufactured fence-cleaning attachments. Traditional attachments often incorporate cutting edges that can penetrate and damage the pen base during operation. This can adversely affect manure pad integrity and compromise pen drainage. The new attachment design minimises this risk, helping to maintain pen surface structure and ensuring more consistent pen conditions.

Secondly, the innovation has delivered substantial operational efficiencies by consolidating tasks that previously required two separate machines into a single skid steer unit. Through the attachment’s ability to quickly transition between fence pulling and bunk/trough pad scraping functions, one machine can now undertake both components of the pen cleaning program. This has reduced equipment requirements, improved workflow efficiency, and generated both time and cost savings associated with pen maintenance operations.

These efficiency gains have also contributed to improved animal health and welfare outcomes. More frequent and timely pen cleaning can now be achieved with less time spent operating within the pens, resulting in cleaner environments and reduced disruption to livestock. Overall, the innovation has enhanced both the effectiveness and efficiency of feedlot pen management practices.

Cost of Innovation:

$3000

Wainui Feedlot’s ‘Fence Cleaning Attachment’.

Wainui Feedlot – ‘Adjustable Bunk Cable’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

An easy-to-adjust bunk bracket that slides up and down the post to suit different classes of cattle, quickly raised for larger-framed animals or lowered for smaller stock.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

As our market mix changes and cattle entry weights increase or decrease, we have traditionally needed to add or remove cables from the front of feed bunks to accommodate different animal sizes. This was necessary to prevent smaller cattle from becoming strays while still allowing adequate feed access for larger-framed animals.

The adjustable bracket eliminates this issue by allowing the cable to remain permanently installed while its height can be quickly and easily adjusted to suit the cattle in each pen. This provides greater flexibility, improves animal access to feed, and significantly reduces the labour and time required to modify bunk setups as cattle classes change.

Cost of Innovation:

The solution is highly cost-effective, with each bracket costing approximately $10 to laser cut and requiring only 10 minutes to weld into place. At a labour rate of $35 per hour, installation costs are approximately $5.85 per bracket, resulting in a total installed cost of $15.85 per rail.

This provides a low-cost, practical improvement that delivers ongoing labour savings and operational flexibility.

Wainui Feedlot’s ‘Adjustable Bunk Cable’.

Struggle Downs Feedlot – ‘Mobile Division Fencing in Shedded Feedlots’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

Electric mesh fences divide cattle cohorts and can be positioned anywhere under the shed, as long as they cross the apex line. The main live wire runs the full 200m length under the shed apex, with wire droppers placed wherever the fence sits. This solves ongoing fencing headaches — cleaning underneath, animal rub damage, and rusting/breaking — since the fences can be quickly moved for a full clean and cattle respect them without damaging them. Other benefits include infinitely variable pen sizes, better control of cattle-to-floor density ratios, support for NFI trial work without utilisation inefficiency, easy pen reconfiguration, and the ability to clean pens without moving cattle out.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

Fences in feedlots are a continuous issue to manage for the following reasons:

• Cleaning under them;
• Damage from animals rubbing on them;
• Rusting and breaking.

By using our mobile electrified fencing the fence can be quick moved for a full under fence clean. The animals respect the fences and do not damage them. They are fast and easy to erect.

Other benefits the system include:

• The ability to make infinitely variable pens sizes to accommodate cohort sizes.
• Manage cattle / floor density ratio which is the key to keeping shedded conditions to optimal moisture levels.
• Allow NFI trial work to be carried out on genetic or genomic lines due to variable sizing without feedlot utilisation inefficiency.
• Move animals around pens by simply swinging the fences to new locations.
• Create movement lanes along inside of pens.
• Allow pen cleaning without need to move cattle out.
• As the floor material builds up the fence can be lifted and dropped on top again to follow the floor contour. This is particularly useful considering cleaning out only is required on 2-3 year basis.

Cost of Innovation:

• Fence mesh $300 per fence
• Electric fence exciter unit $1,500 per shed
• Insulated droppers $75 per shed
• Plain wire $100 per shed

Struggle Downs Feedlot’s ‘Mobile Division Fencing in Shedded Feedlots’.

Bective Feedlot – ‘Ezy Fit Spray Frame’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

A simple frame fitted with spray nozzles that slides into the tray of a side-by-side for spraying weeds around the feedlot. It enables rapid set-up and removal, gives access to areas conventional utes can’t reach, and increases use of existing equipment.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

The Ezy Fit Spray Frame enables rapid set up and removal. It makes use of a side by side which allows access to areas where conventional utes cannot reach and increases use of available equipment.

Cost of Innovation:

$330

Bective Feedlot’s ‘Ezy Fit Spray Frame’.

Wainui Feedlot – ‘Bunk Buddy Tracking Wheels’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

The innovation uses guide wheels positioned above and alongside the bunk edge to keep the sweeper unit accurately aligned on the concrete surface as it travels. The wheels track the edge of the bunk, prevent the unit from drifting or riding up, maintain consistent brush contact, and improve smooth travel while reducing component wear. The result is consistent cleaning performance, less mechanical wear, reduced need for operator training, and improved bunk cleanliness that supports better feed intake.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

• Consistent cleaning performance along the entire bunk.
• Reduced mechanical wear due to improved alignment.
• Less operator intervention required, with reduced need for specialist training.
• Improved bunk cleanliness, supporting increased feed intake.

Cost of Innovation:

$750.56

Wainui Feedlot’s ‘Bunk Buddy Tracking Wheels’.

Palm Grove Feedlot – ‘Safety String Dispatcher’ Innovation

What is your innovation?

A retractable blade attached to a shaft with a spring-loaded protection system. It’s designed to eliminate the risk of people cutting or stabbing themselves while cutting multiple strings on bales.

What issue/challenge is your innovation solving?

Trying to eliminate the risk of people cutting or stabbing themselves whilst cutting multiple strings on bales.

Cost of Innovation:

$200

Palm Grove Feedlot’s ‘Safety String Dispatcher’.

To vote for your favourite entry, go to the ALFA website and click the ‘heart’ button on the post (this indicates a vote).

Voting closes 21 August.