Maximizing Feed Efficiency: How a Vertical or Horizontal Feed Mixer Reduces Waste and Boosts Herd Health

Precision Mixing = Less Waste

One of the biggest culprits behind wasted feed is an inconsistent mix. If your cattle sort through the feed because the ration isn’t blended properly, the result is expensive ingredients left behind or picked over. That’s a straight hit to your wallet. Herd-Boss vertical and horizontal feed mixers are designed to produce a precise, uniform mix every time. The vertical screws gently and thoroughly blend all ingredients, from high concentrate to high forage rations. No more sorting. No more waste. Your herd gets every nutrient in the ration they need—and you get the peace of mind knowing your feed is being used efficiently.

Consistency Boosts Digestive Health (And Performance)

 Consistency isn’t just about cutting waste; it’s about improving herd health. When your cattle receive the same balanced ration in every bite, their digestive systems stay stable. And stable digestion leads to better feed conversion, higher milk production in dairy cows, and more efficient weight gain in beef cattle. Herd-Boss mixers help you fine-tune rations to match your herd’s specific nutritional needs. Whether you’re managing lactating cows or finishing steers, you can deliver a uniform TMR (Total Mixed Ration) that supports digestive health—and ultimately, profitability.

Flexible, Durable, and Built for the Long Haul

Herd-Boss mixers are built to handle the demands of larger herds and busy operations. Whether you're feeding in tight quarters or managing multiple pens, the design makes loading, mixing, and unloading straightforward and fast.

Plus, when you’re managing feed costs and aiming for better herd performance, reliability matters. These mixers are built to last—keeping downtime (and repair bills) to a minimum.

Profitability Starts with the Right Equipment

Feed efficiency isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about maximizing every pound of feed you deliver to your herd. A Herd-Boss vertical or horizontal feed mixer helps you do just that. Less waste, better consistency, healthier cattle… and a healthier bottom line.

Many thanks to Herd Boss for this article. You may contact them via the information below.

Herd-Boss Feeders | Web: herdbossfeeders.com | Email: sales@herdbossfeeders.com

The Welfare Plan Form 5500 is a compliance and disclosure document that employers must file with the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for pension or welfare benefit plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The purpose of Form 5500 is to provide the IRS and DOL with information about the plan's operation and compliance with government regulations.

It is important for you to understand what Welfare Plan Form 5500 Compliance all is about.

We spoke with Ann Myers (partner) and Alan Perka (Sr. Manager) from the 5500 Tax Group to help better understand what the document is for and how to help businesses better understand it and how and when to file it.

An Overview of Form 5500

Ann, would you give us an overview of what Form 5500 is about.

“The Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation jointly developed the Form 5,500 series so employee benefit plans could utilize the Form 5,500 to satisfy annual reporting requirements under Title I and Title 4 of ERISA and under the Internal Revenue Code.

The Form 5,500 series is an important compliance, research, and disclosure tool for the Department of Labor, a disclosure document for planned participants and beneficiaries, and a source of information and data for use by other federal agencies, Congress and the private sector, and assessing employee benefit, tax, and economic trends and policies.

The Form 5,500 is part of ERISA's overall reporting and disclosure framework, which is intended to assure that employee benefit plans are operated and managed in accordance with the certain prescribed standards, and that participants and beneficiaries, as well as the regulators, are provided or have access to sufficient information to protect the rights and benefits of participants and beneficiaries under employee benefit plans.

When is Form 5500 required for welfare plans?

Well, for welfare plans, there are two classifications there are funded and unfunded. Funded meaning that it's run through a trust. The majority of them are unfunded. In fact, all of the clients that I manage have unfunded plans and the threshold for filing for an unfunded plan is if there are 100 or more employee participants on the first day of the plan year. And so, you're looking at active employee participants and any employee cobras that might be on the plan, but we're not looking at dependents at all and so that's the threshold that we're looking for an unfunded plan.

When are Forms 5500 due?

The 5,500 is due on the last day of the seventh month following the end of the plan year.

So, for a calendar year plan, December 31st plan year-end, the due date would be July 31st.

You can file an extension that gives you an additional two and a half months, but that extension needs to be filed before the original due date. So for a calendar year plan, July 31st,can extend it out to October 15th.

Are there penalties for not filing a Form 5500?

Yes, there are. What are classified as late filers and non-filers. For a late filer, the penalty can be $50 a day with no limit from the original due date. And a non-filer, which is, I guess, someone who actually would be found to have not filed at all that needed to, that can be up to $300 a day, up to $30,000 per year. But the DOL has come up with a program that’s called the Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance program. We call it DFVC and they're trying to get people just to comply.

They're not looking to penalize people so much so, if you voluntarily submit late filings, the penalty is only $10 a day from the original due date, up to $2,000 per filing. So that would be for a year would max out at $2,000, and then $4,000 for a plan.

So, no matter how many years past the second year, the penalty is maxed out at $4,000, which is a much more reasonable approach than the other ones are could potentially really financially impact the company.

Those penalties are large, but when you take any type of a government filing that doesn't have a balanced due, which there is none with the 5,500, the penalties have to be high so that it encourages people to comply because otherwise they wouldn't so that's why the penalties are so large.

Are certain plan sponsors exempt from having to file Form 5500?

Actually, there are several that are exempt. Government plans, interestingly enough, the government has exempted themselves from having to file 5,500. Certain church plans under ERISA Section 333. Group insurance arrangements where there is an insurance plan that covers multiple companies, then whoever offers that insurance plan files the 5,500 for all of those participating companies.

So, you as a company that participates in one of those is not required to file your own 5,500. And then welfare plans that are maintainedoutside of the United States. If you've got a US company that has a plan just for their office, say in England, for instance, that particular plan would not have to file a 55. And of course, just to reiterate, in any other welfare plan unfunded that's under 100, it's also exempt from having to file.

Can a plan sponsor file more than one welfare Form 5500?

Yes, if there's not a wrap document, there can be multiple plans that would all have to be filed individually. And the number of plans without a wrap document, you would take a look at the benefits that are offered, and then carriers You can group those benefits together under one 5,500.

But say if your medical is with one company, your dental is with another, your vision is with another, then you could potentially have three 5,500 that need to be filed So you have to look at it on a case-by-case basis.

Essentially, each individual insurancecontract becomes a planned document if You don't have an overall plan documentthat wraps it all together and of course, a self-funded benefitwould not have an insurance contract, but it would still be a separate plan.

What are Wrap Plan Documents?

ERISA requires every plan sponsor to have a written plan document and if you don't have an overall document that wraps all of your benefits together, employers typically rely upon the carrier booklets that are provided to them.

So, like we talked about, you need to file separate 5,500s. It's a bigger administrative task.

If you put together a wrap plan document, it takes all of the benefits that you offer, wraps them all into one plan. You have one document that has all of the language required for ERISA, and then that allows you to file one 5,500 foryour company instead of multiple 5,500.

So, it really reduces the administrative burden while also satisfying the document requirements of ERISA.

The interview is available in its entirety at Podbean and you can read more about Form 5500 Preparation on their website.

Many Thanks to Ann Myers and Alan Perka of the 5500 Tax Group.

Ann Myers is a partner of the 5500 tax group and has been practicing public accounting since 1989 and has specialized in employee benefits since 1993. Ann has extensive experience assisting non-filers and plans with other failures by utilizing the various correction programs offered by the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service. Ann is located in Pittsburgh, PA.

The 5500 Tax Group - https://5500tax.com/

Most of us are familiar with managed IT services. So, what is the difference?

Between managed it services and co-managed it services.  To help us understand this better, we have Steve Arndt and Greg Shenefelt. Steve is the President of Silver Lining's Technology, and Greg Shenefelt is a customer service representative.

How would you define, or give us an example of what is the difference between Co-Managed IT and managed IT.

Typically, managed IT or outsourced IT, covers the entire IT department or the operational part of the IT department and is fully transferred or contracted with another company like Silver Lining or another provider, essentially becoming the IT Department for the company.

Co-managed is really a hybrid where you have internal IT staff working with an outside provider, typically leadership, but it could be any operational components that are internal, and you are also making use of external resources, not on a one-off project basis, but on a contracted routine basis for specific functions.

Why would a company use co-managed IT if they already have an IT department?

This question gest asked a lot because a lot of IT leaders, especially in small or mid-size organizations where they've been around for a long time, feel threatened by this because they think that the co-managed provider is going to take over their job. It's really not the case at all. In the smaller or mid-size businesses, often you don't have the breadth of IT knowledge.

In today’s business world, IT touches everything, Typically, it takes at least four different skill sets within an IT organization to really adequately cover all of the bases, let alone all of the technology. Whether it's server, administration, network administration, strategy, project management, just day-to-day help desk, the smaller mid-size companies tend to get overwhelmed with that and focus on really daily operational challenges rather than potentially serious strategic issues that need to be addressed by them as well.Maybe your managed provider has tons of strengths, but one system isn't their specialty, and it is the co-managed partner specialty. It keeps you up and running and smooth.

The issues is that 85% - 90% of businesses think they're adequately covered right now. But if they answer a simple questionnaire or conduct a basic assessment that really opens their eyes to the gaps they are encountering. It isn’t to point fingers but to get a reality check as to what needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, many companies learn the hard way when an attack or event happens that stops them in their tracks, usually it's around security and compliance.

Communication Gap

The problem is communication, a CEO, CFO, don't know what to look for and so they just assume IT is taking care of all these things, including security, compliance, and training. We've run into many cases where the IT leader is really more a tactical operations person, whether networking or server admin, but they're really downward focused on keeping the lights on and not as focused on things like security or compliance changes.

Then, of course, there's some event or aha moment where the two come together and realize that the gap is bigger than what's expected, which is unfortunate.

Some recommendations on how a company could gage their current performance would be for the IT leader as well as the business leaders in the organization, is identify what they would call their critical operational systems. Is it your ERP or your CRM or your MRP or, quite frankly, your time and attendance system?

Typically, you’re going to get to five on your list. In many cases, this will sound crazy because in the old days, this was never the case. But quite frankly, now, email, whether it's Office 365 or Google Workspace, has become a critical application. Identify those, that short list, and then as the business leader, you need to ask yourself, how long can that application be down before you lose money? And what is your expectation for it to be back online if it does go down?

Then the IT leader does the same thing, and you compare those two things. And in most cases, we recognize that there's a gap right there, that the expectation of IT in terms of backup and recovery is a much longer threshold in reality than what operations believe it is. So right there, you've already identified a gap, which kills apart a whole bunch of things besides co-manage and all that. That's a good place to start.

From that, it's We're probably going to uncover other things as we go through and have that discussion. I want to emphasize that exercise does not necessarily mean you have bad IT.

IT Coverage 24/7?

Another good exercise is to ask if your IT staff works 24 x 7 x 365. If they don't, there's a support gap.

So that's a really simple place where a co-managed IT provider can help out and say, look we know you need to go on vacation or have weekends off. Let's have our outsource help desk cover those times so you're not burned out.

One of the huge advantages of engaging a co-managed provider is to look at the gaps that you as an organization have. Having a co-managed provider that has the security tools and the security procedures and training for their staff is a real augment. And what you'll end up learning is, they can add value with their software tools to help monitor or manage the network and react much quicker, either in the identification of a threat or the remediation of a threat that occurs.

The last thing you want is to be scrambling to figure out how to prevent or remediate something when it's going on.

It is important to understand your IT gap and the needs you have, then select a provider that offers the tools and experience to complement your IT staff in filling the gaps.

Many thanks for the interview with Steve Arndt, President Silver Linings Technology.

How Many Form 5500 Do You Have to File?

Is an employer allowed to file a single Form 5500 for their Welfare Benefit Plan which provides multiple benefits under multiple insurance policies/contracts from various insurance carriers? It depends on the facts and circumstances.

If an employer provides the following benefits through the various insurance carriers, how many Forms 5500 would they be required to file? 

• Self-insurance medical benefit
• HMO provided by Kaiser
• PPO provided by Anthem
• Dental provided by CIGNA
• Vision provided by VSP
• Life insurance and AD&D provided by Unum
• Long-term and short-term disability provided by Reliance

ERISA

Employee Retirement Income Securities Act, (ERISA) generally requires employers to file an annual report on Form 5500 for each welfare benefit plan covering at least 100 participants.  With respect to health and welfare plans, ERISA does not specifically define what constitutes a “plan”.  Rather, ERISA defines the types of benefits that trigger ERISA coverage (e.g., health, life, accident). 

For the first time in the 2005 Form 5500 filing instructions, the DOL discusses the issue of whether the plan sponsor has established one or more plans for Form 5500 reporting purposes.

A plan sponsor can offer benefits through various structures and combinations, such as, a plan sponsor could create (i) one plan providing major medical benefits, dental benefits and vision benefits, (ii) two plans with one providing major medical benefits and the other providing self-insured dental and visions benefits, or (iii) three separate plans.  

The DOL states that you must review the governing documents and actual operations to determine whether welfare benefits are being provided under a single plan or separate plans.

The fact that you have separate insurance policies for each different welfare benefit does not necessarily mean that you have separate plans.  Some plan sponsors use a “wrap” document to incorporate various benefits and insurance policies into one comprehensive plan for Form 5500 reporting.

Welfare Benefit Plans

Welfare benefit plans are required to be evidenced by a written plan document meeting the requirements of §402(b) of ERISA.  In the absence of a legal written plan document, the insurance policy/agreement covering the welfare benefit acts as the plan document or “governing document”.  When a plan sponsor has no plan document that incorporates the various benefits and insurance policies into one single comprehensive plan (a “wrap” document) and provides various benefits through insurance with separate carriers/policies, multiple plans can exist creating multiple Form 5500 filings. 

In the absence of a “wrap” document, assuming all benefits have 100 or more employees enrolled on the first day of the plan year, the above employer would be required to the following Forms 5500:

• 501 - Health Plan that includes the self-insured medical benefit as well as the HMO and PPO benefits provided by the Kaiser and Anthem contracts
• 502 - Dental Plan provided by the CIGNA Dental contract
• 503 - Vision Plan provided by the e VSP contract
• 504 - Life insurance and AD&D provided by the Unum contract
• 505 - Long-term and short-term disability provided by the Reliance contract

The self-insured medical, HMO and PPO benefits can be filed together, even though the medical benefits are provided under separate contracts because it is the same benefit, medical.

If Cigna provided both dental and vision benefits, then both benefits could be filed under a single plan. However, if in subsequent plan years, the benefits are provided by separate carriers, then two separate Forms 5500 would be required to be filed.

The same rules would apply if a Unum contract provided life, AD&D as well as long-term and short-term disability. One Form 5500 would be required to include all the benefits provided under the Unum contract.

If an employer has a “wrap” document in place that incorporates the various benefits and insurance policies into one single comprehensive plan, then only one Form 5500 would be required to be filed. 

How Many Forms?

Determining the number of Forms 5500 required to be filed is based on the specific facts and circumstances of the employer, the benefits provided and the insurance carriers providing the benefits.

Amy Boyd, CPA, CEBS

Amy is a Partner with the 5500Tax Group, Inc. She has 25 plus years of experience working with qualified plans as well as welfare benefit plans. Prior to co-founding the 5500Tax Group, she was Senior Manager with the Ernst & Young Human Capital Practice.

Zinc is a versatile metal that offers many advantages to product development and manufacturing, yet many products designers and engineers are fully aware of these benefits. Zinc die casting is an optimal choice for the right casting. Dave Magner, Vice President of Sales, and Marketing at Deco Products talks with us to understand when zinc is a good choice and how it impacts both product design as well as manufacturing and profitability.

What is Zinc Die Casting and how is it different from other types of metal casting?

Zinc die casting is very similar to other forms of metal die casting. The diecasting process, regardless of the metal, you usually have a mold that can split in half, and you shoot the metal into the two halves as they're pressed together. You let the metal solidify, and then you split the two halves apart and have to extract the part. And then from there you're going to have some excess material as the material flows through and solidifies. And we call that a runner or the gate or the overflow. And so that has to be trimmed off. And then that might be the functional part. It may be that simple, but from there, often there may be some secondary operations that one would need to do to make that part per print and per the specific specifications for the application.

The Differences Are:

Lower Melting Point

Zinc has a lower melting point than other metals like aluminum or steel. The difference in using zinc
it generally runs quicker because it does solidify quicker with the lower melting temperature. Zinc is much more tolerant for varying wall thicknesses because the zinc cools at a more constant rate, even in a thinner and a thicker wall. And so, you'll get a better surface finish with a zinc part.

Zinc is Heavy

Zinc is a heavy material and very dense material. If the weight is a parameter that that design engineer is really factoring in for fuel efficiencies and other reasons, zinc is not going to be the first choice of material. But there are times where weight and the perception of heavier material give the end user a very premium feel. So, there'll be automotive applications where the door handle will be made out of zinc, even though it weighs a little bit more. The perceived value is so much better. You'll see that in a luxury car. Same thing with windows, right? Yeah. The hardware aspect is so important where the value and the perceived value is so much higher on a zinc part, both because it feels better, and it looks better.

Zinc is More Fluid When Casting

Zinc also can fill a mold easier than other metals, so finer design features can be put into the mold both for a better look and reduce the cost of having to machine the details into the part.

Zinc is Less Abrasive

Zinc is less abrasive than aluminum or steel, this means the molds used to die cast the part have less wear and tear and last longer. In fact, a zinc die cast mold will last ten times longer that a steel mold.

Designing & Manufacturing with Zinc

When you're working with a design engineer, there are two sides of the coin that need to worry about. One is, should the part be made out of zinc or not? If zinc is the material in the diecasting process is a strong candidate, then it's a matter of looking at that design and balancing the requirements of the design, the geometry, the testing requirements, things of that nature with what's manufacturable.

This is a real collaborative effort, because sometimes designers will add a feature where we'll ask, well, can that feature be slanted? Or what we call, can we add draft to that? Because we want that part to be less blocky and have filets and be tapered in a lot of ways, what we call draft, so that the part falls out of the tool much more easily. That improves the surface finish of the part and ultimately the quality of the part from day one, but then also the tool life and the quality of that part a year later, even ten years later.

Secondary Operations with Zinc

We talk a lot about the casting process, but then there are secondary processes that are important to add functionality or make the part ready for assembly. That could include machining, adding taft holes, could be powder coating or other decorative or non-decorative corrosion protection finishes. And then just the assembly process. A lot of Deco's background is in the hardware, whether it's window, door. And you can think about the different mechanisms that one could use. Zinc on windows and doors. And when we talk about the door, the egress or ingress access system needs to be something that functions really well, is strong, but also has this great perceived value.

Dave Magner is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Deco Products.

www.decoprod.com