In agriculture, precision is not just important, it’s the key to success. Whether you’re managing livestock, transporting goods, or weighing produce, the right weigh scale can make a significant difference in your daily operations in Calgary and beyond. Selecting the appropriate equipment ensures that your measurements are accurate, compliant, and efficient. From livestock scales to truck scales, selecting the appropriate equipment ensures that your measurements are accurate, compliant, and efficient.
This comprehensive guide, provided to you by the experts at Accurate Western Scale, will help you navigate the process, offering insights into the different types of scales and key factors to consider for your agricultural business.

1. Knowing the Different Types of Agricultural Scales

Understanding the different types of scales available for agricultural use is the first crucial step in your decision-making process. Each type of scale offers unique features and benefits, so choosing one that aligns with your needs is key.

• Platform Scales – Ideal for weighing larger livestock or bulk quantities of produce. They are sturdy, durable, and can handle high capacities.
• Axle Scales – Perfect for weighing vehicles loaded with produce or livestock. They are portable and can be set up easily in different locations.
• Hanging/Crane Scales – Suitable for weighing items like sacks of grain or feed. These scales are often used in conjunction with a hoist or crane.
• Portable Scales – These are versatile and can be used in multiple locations. They are great for smaller farms or operations that require mobility.

2. Durability and Environment

Agricultural settings often present challenging environments for weigh scales, including exposure to dirt, moisture, and extreme weather conditions. Investing in a scale that is durable enough to withstand these elements is key.

• Heavy-duty Construction – Look for scales made from robust materials like stainless steel, which offers both strength and corrosion resistance.
• Weather Protection – For outdoor scales, ensure they are designed with weatherproof features to handle rain, snow, and other environmental factors common in Calgary’s varied climate.

Selecting a durable scale will save you money in the long run by reducing the need for frequent repairs or replacements.

3. Accuracy and Compliance

Accuracy is critical when weighing livestock or vehicles, especially when it comes to selling goods by weight or ensuring compliance with transport regulations. Certified scales provide the peace of mind that your measurements are reliable and legally compliant.

• Certified Calibration – In Canada, scale accuracy is regulated, meaning it’s vital to choose a scale that can be regularly calibrated and certified. This applies to both livestock scales and truck scales in Calgary, ensuring your equipment meets provincial standards for accuracy.
• Legal Compliance – Truck scales, in particular, need to meet road compliance regulations. Accurate weight measurements help avoid overloading fines and ensure the safety of your vehicles on the road.

4. Ease of Use and Features

Time is money, especially in agriculture, where efficiency can impact your bottom line. When selecting a weigh scale, consider how easy it is to use and whether it offers additional features that can simplify your operations.

• Automated Systems – Some livestock scales come with automated features that record weights and log data, saving time during daily weighing tasks.
• Portability – If your weighing needs vary by location, consider investing in a portable scale. Portable livestock scales or truck scales can be moved easily around your property, offering flexibility without sacrificing accuracy.

5. Budget and Long-term Value

While it may be tempting to go for the lowest-cost option, investing in a high-quality, durable scale will provide long-term value. Consider the total cost of ownership, including maintenance, repairs, and how often the scale will need calibration. Remember, a higher upfront investment in a durable, weather-resistant scale can pay off in the long term by reducing downtime and repair costs, ensuring your financial peace of mind.

• Maintenance Costs – Some scales require more frequent maintenance than others. Be sure to factor in ongoing maintenance when calculating the total cost.
• Longevity – A higher upfront investment in a durable, weather-resistant scale can pay off in the long term by reducing downtime and repair costs.

Weighing Your Options

Choosing the right weigh scale for your agricultural needs involves assessing your specific operations, environmental factors, and budget.

In Calgary and Alberta, we provide customizable livestock scales, including cow scales and scale bars, tailored for precise animal weighing. These scales facilitate health tracking by correlating weight with health conditions using our single and multi-animal scale systems.

Contact us today to learn more!

If you work in agriculture, logistics, or any industry that depends on accurate weight measurements, you already know that reliable scales are essential. But did you know that regular scale certifications are required in certain trade sectors to ensure your scales meet strict accuracy standards? Whether you’re weighing livestock, grain, or industrial products, certification guarantees your measurements are precise and compliant with Canadian regulations.
In this article, Accurate Western Scale will explain why livestock scale certification is important, describe the process, and explain how it fits into the equation.

What is Scale Certification?

Scale certification is an official validation that your weighing equipment is performing accurately and consistently. In Canada, scales are held to strict standards to ensure fairness in trade, safety, and efficiency across industries. This certification process ensures that your scales are compliant with industry standards, government regulations, and the standards set by Measurement Canada.
Scale certification is required only in specific sectors for agriculture, mining, construction, and shipping businesses and is not always a legal requirement. For instance, once livestock scales are certified, they do not need to be recertified. Grain scales require certification every two years unless regulated by the Grain Commission, which mandates annual certification. Grocery store scales need recertification every five years. Inaccurate measurements in required sectors can lead to financial losses, non-compliance penalties, and safety risks.

Why is Scale Calibration Important for Certification in Alberta?

A key part of the certification process is certified scale calibration. Calibration ensures that the scale provides correct readings, adjusting for any wear or environmental changes that might affect its accuracy. Over time, scales can drift due to constant use, weather conditions, or other factors. This makes regular calibration essential to maintain the reliability of your equipment.
Certified calibration services use standardized weights to adjust your scale’s accuracy. In Canada, certified technicians must perform this task to ensure the calibration meets federal standards. Once the calibration is complete, the scale can be certified, giving you peace of mind that your measurements are accurate and legally compliant.

The Certification Process

The process of certifying a scale typically follows these steps:

1. Inspection – A qualified technician inspects the scale for any visible damage or wear that could affect its accuracy.
2. Calibration – The scale is tested using a series of known weights. If adjustments are needed, the technician calibrates the scale to ensure it is accurate within an acceptable margin of error.
3. Certification – After the scale passes calibration, it is certified. This certification is valid for a specific period (often one year), after which the process must be repeated to maintain compliance.

How Often Do You Need Scale Certification?

The frequency of certification depends on several factors, including how often the scale is used, environmental conditions, and industry regulations. Regular maintenance and calibration between certifications can help extend the life of your scales and reduce the risk of inaccuracies.

Customizable and Tailored for Precise Animal Weighing

When it comes to scale certification, you want a service provider with experience, expertise, and a reputation for precision. You need a trusted partner company authorized to certify scales in Canada that provides certification and certified scale calibration services.

At Accurate Western Scale in Calgary, Alberta, we provide customizable livestock scales, including cow scales and scale bars, tailored for precise animal weighing. These scales facilitate health tracking by correlating weight with health conditions using our single and multi-animal scale systems.
Contact us to learn more!

At its simplest, a load cell is a device that converts energy from one form to another. In scales, a load cell converts force into a measurable output, such as a digital reading, that allows you to determine the weight of something. A common example of a load cell is a weighbridge, or vehicle scale, that measures the amount of vertical flexing of a platform when a vehicle drives onto it and converts it into a digital readout.

If you’re looking for reliable scale accessories, including load cell mounts, check out the selection available from Accurate Western Scale.

How Load Cells Work

How a load cell converts force into a measurable number, or reading, will depend on the type of load cell being used. There are several types:

• Hydraulic load cells
• Pneumatic load cells
• Strain gauge load cells

In the latter, strain (weight) creates voltage irregularities that are then converted into a digital reading. In Red Deer and across Alberta, strain gauge load cells are often found in vehicle scales, industrial scales, medical scales, and even retail scales.

Accurate Western Scale provides professional services such as scale load cell repair and vehicle scale calibration in Calgary and surrounding areas, ensuring your equipment functions at peak performance.

Choosing the Right Load Cell

As with any job, using the correct tools and equipment is the key to accurate weighing. Since load cells are designed for various loads, environments, and tasks, choosing the right one for your weighing needs is essential. The following table outlines some of the most common types of load cells available in Red Deer and across Alberta, as well as their characteristics and their applications.

Type of Load Cell	Characteristics	Application
S-Beam	High accuracy Tension and compression for low to medium capacity of 25 – 20,000 lbs.	Suspended hopper and tank Crane Scale Dynamometer Lever arm conversion Track scales Test machines
Single or Double ended Beam	Load capacity ranging from 500 – 35, 000 lbs. Double-ended are secured at both ends; force is applied in the centre Heavy capacity over 5t to 100t	Floor scales Light-duty platform scales Hopper scales Tank weighing Track scales Process weighing
Tension Link	Measuring pulling force  Range in size from coin-sized load cells to load pins capable of weighing over 100t	Crane scales Tension measurement
Compression Load Cell	Designed to withstand harsh environments High-capacity scales from 7.5t to 200t	Truck scales Railroad scales  Silo weighing systems Vehicle scales

Finding Load Cells in Alberta

Whether you need new load cells or require scale load cell repair or vehicle scales calibration in Calgary, Accurate Western Scale has you covered.

We supply a variety of scales, including vehicle scales, scale accessories, and software, in Red Deer and across Alberta. We also offer 24/7 service and scale inspection and certification on behalf of Measurement Canada.

From agriculture and manufacturing to healthcare and logistics, digital computing scales for industrial and commercial industries are being used for data management and financial decision-making in Calgary. The technological capabilities of digital computing scales have also caused them to be called smart scales.

Digital Computing Scales

The “smartness” of a scale is related to its accuracy and its ability to display, save, and utilize or share gathered data. The capabilities will vary from scale to scale and industry to industry. The most common smart features of digital computing scales are:

• Tracking features
• Data storage
• Memory and tare functions
• Connectivity to other devices, USB sticks, or Bluetooth
• Printout capabilities

Many smart commercial weigh scales also include a combination of software and hardware that allows the scale to create data such as:

• Price/kg
• Average/mean weight
• Standard deviation
• Cross-references

With such technology, it is not surprising that more and more industries in Calgary, from industrial to commercial, are adopting digital computing scales to make their data management easier and more effective.

Further Benefits of Smart Scales

In Alberta, the smart commercial weigh scales that are available are:

• Acurate and easy-to-read
• Portable
• Not as affected by temperature as analogue scales

Types Of Smart Industrial Scales in Calgary

In general, industrial scales are used to weigh commodities that would break a standard scale. The same holds for smart scales. Thankfully, there is a large range of digital industrial scales available in Alberta. These include:

• Belt scales
• Crane hanging scales
• Floor scales
• Forklift & material handling scales
• Front end loader scales
• Livestock scales
• Hopper and tank scales
• Truck scales

Commercial Weigh Scales in Calgary

On the smaller side of things, commercial weigh scales are available as:

• Bench scales
• Checkweighers
• Counting scales
• Laboratory and precision balances
• Medical scales
• Platform scales
• Price computing scales

The Benefits of Smart Scales: Enhancing Data Management in Industry

Industry team leads and managers have identified the following 5 benefits of Smart Scales:

• Accurate Inventory Management: All weights are precise and consistently measured. Smart functions display, record, and remember data, which can be output into spreadsheets and other type of records. Certain commercial scales weigh the placement and removal of stock and maintain a running tally of inventory.
• Data Integration with Other Systems and Data Bases: Connectivity with other devices and software simplifies the creation and maintenance of files.
• Enhanced Quality Control: Not only do all packages have the same amount of product, but the ingredients or supplies used to make the product are consistent and exact.
• Increased Efficiency in Shipping and Logistics: Knowing the exact weight of packages/shipments allows for better planning, as does having consistency from package to package.
• Regulatory Compliance and Reporting: Scales used in commerce, healthcare, and transportation must comply with stringent regulations to ensure accuracy, safety, and fairness. Weighing on-site helps industries stay within the established parameters.

Finding Digital Computing Scales

Accurate Western Scale provides for all your commercial and industrial weigh scale needs in Calgary, Alberta. We design accurate, efficient weighing systems that deliver optimal processes and designs that accommodate your industry and make your data management as easy as 1-2-3.

Knowing the weight of your livestock is about a lot more than calculating an animal’s market price. It is also an excellent tool used by cattle raisers for detecting health concerns within their herd and effectively treating disease.
Regular monitoring using cattle weight scales in Alberta can help identify changes in weight that may indicate health issues before they become severe. Additionally, accurate weight measurements are crucial for administering the correct dosage of medications and supplements, ensuring the well-being of the animals.

Manage Your Livestock Through Weighing

It may seem difficult to believe that regular weighing of select animals, or even an entire herd, has become an easy way to monitor herd health and to identify problems that your careful eyes may or may not suspect, but it is true. Modern cattle weight scales in Alberta can provide remote monitoring, data analytics, and quick and accurate weighing, which makes it relatively simple to add regular weighing to your herd health regime.

Through regular weighing, you can:

• Monitor for healthy growth or detect sudden weight loss, which could be an indicator of stress, parasitic infection, metabolic disorder, or any number of other concerns.
• Identify lameness or changes in an animal’s gait through changes in weight distribution on the hooves.
• Establish a feed efficiency program by monitoring the amount of feed consumed in relation to animal growth.
• Gain insight into the reproductive performance of your animals.
• Better manage vaccinations and medication by dosing according to an accurate weight

Scale Solutions

Today’s high-tech livestock and cattle scales in Alberta make it easier to weigh animals and obtain valuable, trackable data about their health. Modern scale indicators can do some or all of the following:

• Read EID or VID tags from a distance
• Maintain records for numerous animals
• Connect with your computer
• Cross-reference animal codes and ID numbers
• Draft/sort
• Provide statistics:
  • Headcount
  • Average
  • Minimum/maximum
  • Total
  • Standard deviation

One Cow, Two Cows, Three Cows, More Cows

Excellent mobile cattle scales such as The Mobile Group Animal Scale and the Rice Lake Single Animal Livestock Scale are now available in Alberta. They are durable and easy to transport to your herd, and no matter how rugged or off-level the terrain, they will provide a Legal-for-Trade weight. These scales provide a complete report for each group of weighed animals that can be transferred to a memory stick or computer, and/or printed out for your records. Both cattle scales are low to the ground and truly designed for out-of-the-barn weighing.

Mobile Livestock Scales in Alberta

To find mobile or other customizable livestock and cattle scales in Alberta, contact Accurate Western Scale for sales, installation, calibration, and 24/7 service. Our systems facilitate the monitoring of single or multiple animals and overall herd health.

Legal metrology is the administration of measuring and weighing through legislation and regulations. It ensures a consistent standard of measure, promoting fairness and establishing confidence between consumers and vendors. Certified scale calibration plays a crucial role in maintaining these standards, ensuring that all measurements are accurate and reliable.

By adhering to these regulations, businesses can guarantee their scales are precise, fostering trust and integrity in their transactions. Whether in retail, manufacturing, or any industry relying on accurate measurements, certified scale calibration is essential for upholding the principles of legal metrology.

The Importance of Legal Metrology

Because it authorizes a standard and precise concept of weight and measures, legal metrology is essential to the equitable sale of goods and the safe combining of products, chemicals, and ingredients. In Canada, weights and measures, and therefore scale calibration, are governed by the Measurement Canada Weights and Measures Act.

It is essential to follow all the regulations of the Act if you sell products by weight in Alberta or elsewhere in Canada. Failing to do so can result in fines and business closures. It can also cost you revenue, because if your business is not using a certified scale, your product may not be at its specified weight. This means you are either over or underselling, both of which affect your bottom line and your reputation. They could also result in customer complaints being made against you to Measurement Canada, which has the authority to investigate complaints and inspect your weighing equipment.

Compliance for Weighing Equipment

Since 2014, it has become a requirement for all weight-based businesses in Alberta and across the country to have their scales and pumps inspected by an authorized Measurement Canada service provider. The regularity of these inspections varies from sector to sector and device to device but ranges from one year to five years. You can find the specific requirements to ensure a certified scale on the Government of Canada website.

Sectors that Require Inspections

You must have a certified scale if you sell within the following sectors:

• Dairy
• Fishing
• Forestry
• Grain and field crops
• Mining
• Oil and gas
• Some retail

Scale Calibration Standards

For a scale to be considered a certified scale in Alberta, it must be serviced and calibrated by Measurement Canada requirements. After device approval, you are responsible for maintaining your weighing equipment through service, scale calibration, and monitoring of accuracy.
It is best to keep your certified scale protected from the elements and only use it to weigh the type of material it is calibrated and designed to weigh.

Where to Find a Measurement Canada Authorized Service Provider in Alberta

If you are looking to rent or buy a certified scale or seeking a scale repair, calibration, or inspection for your weighing equipment, contact Accurate Western Scale.

Located in Calgary, we sell, rent, and repair scales of all kinds, from industrial, heavy-capacity, livestock, and commercial and retail scales. We are at the forefront of smart scales and provide support and sales of software applications for your certified digital scales.