Visibility Weighbeam, dial, or electronic indicators must be protected from the weather. However, the indicator must be easily visible to interested parties. The weighmaster also should be able to see the entire scale platform from his or her station. The weighmaster who consistently weighs livestock accurately is one of the most valuable employees a market operator can have. A livestock scale is not only a money measuring machine, but also a reputation machine.
Accurate weights build confidence in a market.
But accurate scales, properly installed and maintained, are only the beginning. The market operator should not permit untrained persons to weigh livestock. It takes a competent, trained weighmaster, using good equipment, to produce accurate weights. It is also the market operator's responsibility to see that his or her weighmaster compiles with any licensing and bonding laws of the operator's own State. Check zero balance every 15 minutes or 15 drafts, and after every draft of more than half scale capacity.