Masterton firm Daytech's innovative sheep conveyor belt is turning heads at Mystery Creek. The Masterton engineering firm is marketing bail feeders, trailers and sheep conveyor belts at this week's Fieldays agriculture show in Hamilton. It's worth the effort to cart farm equipment 500km north according to manager Stuart Day. Three staff travelledto Hamilton to manage the Daytech tent during the four day show. They left Masterton on Monday - set up their display and picked up four sheep from Fieldays organisers. "You can't beat this show for sheer numbers. Your opposition are always here, so you've got to be here too," Mr Day said. Organisers estimate over 100,000 people will visit Fieldays this week and various companies are jostling for attention. "You often don't see sales here, but you get a phone call a month later or when they're coming up to season," Mr Day said. There's a strange absence of farm animals at the show this year but Daytech is using sheep to demonstrate their product. As a result, crowds are flocking to get close to the four ewes who spend their day travelling on a Daytech mobile conveyor belt. Mr Day helped develop the Daytech version of the sheep conveyor belt at his Masterton workshop. Their machine uses less power than competing machines. "It can be hooked up to a small 2.2 kva generator and that means less carbon credits too," said Mr Day. The conveyor belt removes the back-breaking effort required during dipping and drenching for sheep farmers. Instead of being pushed and man-handled, the sheep travel, with feet suspended in mid-air along the belt. Around 1400 sheep can travel through the 4-metre long plastic belt each hour - supported by their torso's with feet dangling below. "The trend is to farm much more intensively now and this machine can deal with larger numbers of sheep in a short time," he said. The speed can be adjusted by farmers who can also use a foot operated full length bar to stop the belt. This can be helpful if they want to check out the sheep's feet or teeth. Daytech's conveyor belt is currently in working use on farms from Southland to Gisborne. There is a mobile version available which sits on the back of a trailer.
