Commodity Feeder/feedlot Equipment Operator

Job description

Core Job Duties
Commodity Batching: Load, weigh, and mix diverse feed commodities (e.g., silage, distillers grains, hay, straw, minerals) to exact nutritional specifications.
Feed Distribution: Drive and operate large tractors, feed wagons, and mixing trucks to deliver feed to 7,000 head of cattle.
Ration Precision: Adjust feeding amounts continuously based on cattle weight, weather changes, and computer feedback loops.
Herd Management: Monitor bunk lines, track feed disappearance, and report cattle behavioral anomalies or signs of illness.
Winter Maintenance: Scrape snow from feeding lanes, spread bedding, and break heavy ice in water tanks daily.
Technical & Software Requirements
Software Competency: Program and operate an on board computerized feeding system (e.g…Performance Beef) to manage rations.
Data Entry: Input commodity weights, pen numbers, and dry matter adjustments accurately into the data terminal.
Scale Synchronization: Calibrate digital scale heads on mixing wagons to ensure exact ingredient distributions per head.
Troubleshooting: Diagnose basic hardware/software communication errors between the office computer and the feed truck scale.
ob Requirements & Physical Demands
Experience: Minimum of 3 months of verified experience operating agricultural equipment and handling cattle.
Driver's License: A valid driver's license is required; must pass an insurable driving record check.
Environmental Tolerance: Must work outdoors daily in Montana's extreme sub-zero winter temperatures, deep snow, and heavy mud.
Physical Strength: Ability to lift up to 100 pounds, climb high bunk ladders, and engage in continuous bending, lifting, and crouching.
Language Skills: Basic English literacy is required to read chemical labels, input computer data, and comprehend safety protocols.

Workers will perform specialized commodity feeding and livestock maintenance duties for a 7,000-head cattle feedlot operation during the winter containment season.
Duties include loading, weighing, and batching bulk commodities (silage, distillers grains, hay, straw, and mineral supplements) into feed mixers according to strict nutritional formulas. Worker must operate complex on board computerized feeding systems to input raw commodity weights, adjust dry matter percentages, and track bunk line consumption data per pen.
Worker will drive and operate heavy agricultural machinery, including high-horsepower tractors, feed mixing wagons, trucks, and skid steers. Daily physical tasks include driving bunk lines, monitoring cattle for illness or injury, spreading straw bedding, scraping deep snow from alleyways, hauling manure, and clearing heavy ice blocks from stock water tanks in sub-zero temperatures.
Must be able to work outdoors in extreme Montana winter weather. Requires 3 months of verified livestock and heavy machinery experience. Must possess or be able to obtain a valid driver's license.

Special Requirements

Avg. 9 hrs/day, 54 hrs./wk.; Mon.-Sat. Extended hours possible. The employer reserves the right to pay higher than the advertised minimum wage.