Method and apparatus for determining a mixing regime for use in the preparation of animal feed from a set of ingredients, and a system for producing the animal feed

A computer implemented method for determining a mixing regime under which ingredients of a set of ingredients are to be mixed in the preparation of animal feed, the computer implemented method comprising:

• reading the ingredients from the set of ingredients into a computer,
• obtaining standard mixing periods for at least some of the respective ingredients of the set thereof from a master table comprising a list of ingredients or categories of ingredients suitable for use in the preparation of animal feeds cross-referenced with corresponding standard mixing periods stored in a computer readable medium,
• identifying any non-standard conditions identifiable from the read set of ingredients,
• in response to a non-standard condition being identified, obtaining a mixing factor from mixing factors cross-referenced with at least some of the ingredients or categories of ingredients in the master table, for altering the standard mixing period obtained for a corresponding one of the ingredients of the set of ingredients to compensate for the identified non-standard condition,
• determining the mixing periods to which the at least some of the ingredients of the set thereof are to be subjected during a mixing cycle of the mixing regime as a function of the corresponding standard mixing periods and any corresponding mixing factors, and
• producing a loading sequence of the mixing regime in which the ingredients of the set of ingredients are to be loaded into mixing apparatus during the mixing cycle for mixing thereof to produce the animal feed, so that the ingredients for which mixing periods are determined are subjected to mixing for the corresponding determined mixing periods during mixing of the set of ingredients under the mixing regime.

Apparatus for determining a mixing regime under which ingredients of a set of ingredients are to be mixed in the preparation of animal feed, the apparatus comprising a main computer configured

• to store a master table comprising a list of ingredients or categories of ingredients suitable for use in the preparation of animal feeds cross-referenced with corresponding standard mixing periods,
• to store at least one mixing factor for at least some of the ingredients or categories of ingredients of the master table cross-referenced with the corresponding ingredient or category of ingredient, each mixing factor being adapted to be applied to the standard mixing period of the corresponding ingredient or category of ingredient for altering the standard mixing period thereof in response to a non-standard condition being identified in a set of ingredients for which a mixing regime is to be determined,
• to read the ingredients from the set of ingredients,
• to obtain standard mixing periods for at least some of the ingredients of the set of ingredients from the master table,
• to identify any non-standard conditions identifiable from the set of ingredients,
• to obtain a mixing factor from the stored mixing factors for one of the ingredients to compensate for an identified non-standard condition, in response to an identified non-standard condition,
• to determine the mixing periods for at least some of the ingredients of the set of ingredients to which those ingredients are to be subjected during a mixing cycle of the mixing regime as a function of the corresponding standard mixing periods and any corresponding mixing factors, and
• to produce a loading sequence of the mixing regime in which the ingredients of the set of ingredients are to be loaded into the mixing apparatus during the mixing cycle for mixing thereof to produce the animal feed, so that the ingredients for which mixing periods are determined are subjected to mixing for the respective corresponding determined mixing periods during mixing of the set of ingredients under the mixing regime.