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Apollo Machines and Products Ltd. is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada where it currently operates and specializes in agriculture manufacturing and processing equipment. Apollo Machines and Products Ltd. can be found on the Internet at www.apollomachinesandproducts.com where a full list of agricultural equipment can be found. The price of the mill is determined by options chosen, for example the size of the motor or diameter of rollers, although the cost of a basic unit is approximately $2425.00 CND. A basic unit consists of rolls 6 inches in width and 8 inches in diameter, one and a half Horsepower motor which requires 110/220 volts, and it comes with magnets (to catch and prevent metal pieces in feed), motor mount and a stand. Many features of the Econo Roller mill make this machine attractive to small-scale farmers. The mill is relatively low maintenance and does not require the use of tools, has instant release rolls that allow debris to fall through without having to push it through, offset rollers that allow continuous feeding and prevent grain from sitting on top of rollers, as well as a heavy duty frame and steel shafts. How it works: Grain processing begins once it is placed into the hopper of the Econo Roller mill where two grooved rollers are turning in opposite directions. The grain then descends through the rollers, becoming crushed while passing through. The finished product produced is uniform in size with few (Nutrition and Management, 2000). There are different settings on the roller mill, which can allow the operator to produce a variety of grain sizes, for example flour can be produced from wheat and other grains when passed through the mill a few times with the adjustment of rollers. The spoilage of rolled grains is reduced since there is no moisture driven off the grain during processing, as there would be if the grains were heated for other processing. Efficiency of machinery is very important to ensure that the inputs required do not out weight the final product, as well the quality and particle size of the feed must be as desired. There are multiple methods of processing feed; rolling is recommended and can be done with the Econo Roller Mill. It produces crushed and uniform feed with minimal dust and fine or over sized particles http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/beef11490. Rolling can also be done with the addition of water, called tempering, or can be done after the addition of steam, called steam rolling. In comparison, a machine called a Hammer Mill can be used to process feed which works by operating hammers inside the mill that strike the grain repeatedly until the size of the particle is small enough to fall through screen openings (Nutrition and Management, 2000). Fine particles are often produced, which can lead to acidosis and respiratory problems for the animal during the process of digestion http://en.engormix.com/MA-feed-machinery/formulation/articles/processing-feed-grains-t1174/800-p0.htm. Benefits: Surrounding the outside of a grain seed is a protective layer called a hull, which is a barrier to the digestive enzymes and microorganisms in the stomach required to break down the starch in the seed. Starch is the main nutrient in grains and in order for an increase in animal production optimal starch utilization is necessary. Processing grain is a method used to increase the utilization of feed by making starch more accessible to the animal during digestion. As a result of starch being more accessible, the rate of digestion in the rumen of an animal is slowed down, utilizing the nutrients in the grain. A study done by Theurer (1985) ., investigated the effects on different methods of processing grains on performance and effectiveness of feed utilization, finding that feed conversion is in fact improved by 91%. This study also looks into the effectiveness of processing of corn and the digestibility of the grain, showing that feed conversion of the whole kernel and dry rolled kernel had relatively the same conversion average, although starch utilization was improved .. The rumen is the major site of starch digestion and from the experiments results they show that increasing the degree of ruminal microbial breakdown of starch is beneficial to the animal for both starch utilization and efficiency of feed utilization. Processing of grains make more area of the grain susceptible to breakdown of starch, therefore increasing the extent of microbial breakdown in the rumen. In research carried out by Mathison (1996) unprocessed barely had a 16% decrease in the digestibility of the grain and 37% decrease of starch digestion. As a result, rates of gain in cattle were reduced by 5- 50% and the feed required for gains increased by 15% to 100% Further research is required to explain why bloating and incidences of acidosis are common in cattle fed whole grain, but during this study these were common findings when fed high grain diets (Mathison, 1996). The effect of processing depends on the type of grain seed. Corn was observed to have no economical benefit of processing in a study done by Mathison (1996) but from research by Ferraretto et al. (2013) starch digestibility was observed to improve when particle size of corn was reduced. Oats had no significant results on grain and starch digestibility, as compared to wheat, barely and sorghum where an improvement of digestibility was observed. The Econo Roller Mill produces quality rolled grain in ideal particle size for all livestock, minimal dust particles and would be an perfect product for small-scale farms.