Two Steps to Take to Prevent Problems from Arising When Stock Feed Is Delivered to Your Farm
There are several steps you should take to ensure that no issues arise when your supply of stock feed is delivered to your farm. Read on to find out what these steps are.
Make sure the drop-off point is well-lit and free from hazards.
If your delivery driver often drops off your supply of stock feed before sunrise or after sunset, when visibility is poor, then it is crucial to ensure that the drop-off point where they will be leaving your stock feed is both well lit and free from hazards (such as rakes, wheelbarrows and other farming tools).
There are a number of reasons why you need to do this. Firstly, if the yard area where the stock feed will be dropped off is poorly lit on a day when the delivery driver is arriving after dark or very early in the morning, the driver may find it difficult to unload the stock feed into the bins because they won't be able to see very well. This could result in them spilling some of the stock feed onto the ground. If the ground is covered in mud or if it is very wet after a spell of rain, this mistake could lead to the spilt stock feed being spoiled. If this were to happen, you would then have to re-order additional stock feed and wait for it to arrive.
Secondly, if there are farming tools strewn on the ground where the delivery drop-off point is located, there is a risk that the driver may trip over these whilst attempting to unload the stock feed from their truck. This could not only result in some of the stock feed spilling onto the ground but could also lead to the delivery driver sustaining an injury.
As such, it is important to make sure that you keep your drop-off point well lit (with, for example, portable floodlights) and that you keep it free from any tripping hazards.
Set up your storage bins in an area which will be easy for the delivery driver to access.
If possible, try to position the storage bins for the stock feed on an area of your farm that will be easy for your delivery driver to access. The reason for this is that if the delivery truck cannot get to the stock bins (because, for example, the path leading up to them is too narrow for the delivery vehicle), you may have to have them unload the stock feed from the truck into wheelbarrows and then transport the feed to the bins in this handling equipment.
Doing so could increase the likelihood of the stock feed getting rained on (in which case it might go mouldy) or being accidentally dropped onto the ground (if one of the wheelbarrows tips over).
