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BiG Times Special Round Balers Edition

  • Text
  • Baler
  • Krone
  • Bale
  • Bales
  • Silage
  • Farming
  • Comprima
  • Balers
  • Producing
  • Farmers

BUILD QUALITY AND BACK

BUILD QUALITY AND BACK UP HELPS BALER PURCHASE DECISION W hen Morpeth beef and sheep farmer Andrew Scott looked to replace his Krone round baler two years ago, he didn’t have to look too far for a replacement. His current baler was the sixth Krone baler he had bought over the previous 20 years, so his seventh was a Comprima F 125 XC fixed chamber baler, specifically designed for producing 1.25m round silage bales. Mr Scott would normally be thinking about changing his baler after two seasons in readiness for the coming season but at the moment he sees no reason to do so as it was running so well at the end of last season. The baler is usually powered by a Massey Ferguson 6480 and can average around 60 bales an hour, but on one occasion last summer achieved an output of 100 bales in an hour. Mr Scott farms 350 acres of grassland farm which supports a suckler herd of 45 stabiliser cows with followers sold as store cattle and 500 Mule, Suffolk Cross and Texel Cross ewes. All the machinery on the farm is purchased with the sole intention of providing good quality forage for his livestock. “With just farming beef and sheep there is not much need for machinery on the farm, but I do need good and reliable silage making equipment,” he says. “The only way I can afford this equipment is to provide contract baling services for several neighbours. I now own a Krone mower, tedder and baler, and bale around 7-8000 bales per year.” Mr Scott bought his first Krone around 20 years ago and six machines later he has seen little reason to change. The support from Krone and equally as important, dealers Carrs Billington, is second to none and – no problem is too big to solve. “Quite often problem solving can be done over the phone without a callout. The machines also arrive on the farm ready for work. There is no need for any service engineer to come out and set it up – you just load the net wrap and you’re ready to go.” His new Comprima baler is equipped with a rotor cutter feed which not only cuts and feeds the crop into the baler, it also takes care of the pre-compression of the crop. The Krone X-Cut rotor cutters feature three rows of welded tines in chevron formation, which provide for continuous cuts and help spread the material uniformly across the entire chamber width. The baler is fitted with the camless EasyFlow pickup, which means that the galvanised scrapers are specifically designed to ensure a continuous flow of crop as the tines retract. This means that the baler can gather the crop cleanly at a higher speed. It also has the NovoGrip system which was developed by Krone to combine the bale feed strengths of chain and slat elevators with the quiet running of belt systems. An endless elevator has slats mounted on rubber belts which ensure high-density well shaped bales. “The other advantage of this system is that it is much quieter than any other baler I’ve known,” says Mr Scott. Want to be part of a new KRONE testimonial? CONTACT US AT MARKETING@KRONE-UK.COM 8

Combination baler wrappers ensures the ensiling process starts immediately. Traditionally round bales where a cheap, low input method of making silage, without investing capital into a new silage clamp. They were also a convenient way of producing a ‘bit more’ silage if the clamp is already full. With improvements in wrapping and more importantly baling technology, means that baled silage can now be every bit as good as clamped silage. For many farmers, baled silage is now the first choice of producing silage and not just a backup plan. WHY YOU SHOULD PRODUCE ROUND BALED SILAGE What should you consider before producing round baled silage? • Consider using quality grass. Younger leafier grass will consolidate better with less air being trapped. This will result in higher quality of silage due to better fermentation. • Think about what livestock the bales will be fed to. For example, cows producing milk will require more energy from their feed than dry cows. • The mowing date should be based on the grasses’ growth stage and not the calendar. Whilst younger leafier grass will have a lower yield, it will produce silage with a higher energy value. Conversely, mature grass with more stalk will increase yield and lower nutritional value • The most important factor in producing quality baled silage is how the grass is wilted. Ideally a dry matter (DM) of 30% should be achieved within 24 hours. Effective wilting will reduce the amount of water ensiled within the bale, resulting in lighter bales which will retain their shape better. Misshaped bales are harder to stack and increase the chance of air pockets being formed, resulting in poor fermentation • Swaths should be formed just before baling and should be the full width of the baler pick-up with a box shaped profile. Feeding crop across the full width of the pick-up ensures that sufficient crop is fed across the full width of the bale at a uniform density. This will further ensure that unwanted air pockets are eliminated and that the bales retain their shape. Irregular and narrow shaped swaths which require the operator to weave the baler along the swath will impact on bale and silage quality. Producing well shaped bales The key to producing good quality silage bales is to produce a dense cylindrical bale. Different methods of round baling will affect the quality of the produced bales. Roller balers can produce good bales in wet leafy grass, their design can mean they struggle in drier material with more stalk. Whilst belt balers will perform well in drier crop, their design means they often struggle with wet crop and produce misshaped bales. The Krone NovoGrip system combines the benefits of both belt and roller balers, making it the ideal round baler for all conditions, producing dense cylindrical bales which don’t bulge in the middle of the edges. The use of a good quality net wrap which spreads all the way to the edge will also help to keep the bales shape and avoid soft material air traps. Once the bale has been made it’s important that the ensiling process starts as soon as possible. Therefore bales should be wrapped in the field within two hours using a good quality wrap with sufficient layers applied. The bales should be handled gently with minimum movements. Whether the bales are wrapped in the field or in the yard will depend on the machinery used. If the bales are wrapped in the field, don’t leave them there to spoil. 9