KNOWLEDGE NIR CONTROL
KNOWLEDGE NIR CONTROL DUAL SENSOR Contractor Jens-Peter Messer (right) and his manager Malte Carlsburg use a dual NIR sensor on a Holmer slurry trac with a Zunhammer tank and on a Krone forage harvester. ONE SENSOR – TWO APPLICATIONS Near infrared spectroscopy, or “NIR” for short, is an acronym for a technology that allows users to gain deep insights into nutrient levels of silage and slurry, for example. Jens-Peter Messer uses the technology for optimising the processes on his farm “NIR” – HOW IT WORKS Near-infrared spectroscopy, NIR spectroscopy or NIRS / NIR for short is a physical analysis technology that is based on spectroscopy in the short-wave infrared light range (Source: Wikipedia). A light shines on the medium to be analysed which in turn reflects the light. The sensor measures the reflection and compares the result to the data stored. Farmer and contractor Jens-Peter Messer goes about his work in a region where other people spend their holidays. His arable farm is situated 10km from the coast line of the Baltic Sea where he farms approx. 750ha of land, operates five biogas plants of an installed capacity of 5.9MW, manages a contracting company that employs 14 people and rents out five holiday cottages and 11 holiday apartments to tourists. “We never get bored around here,” tells Jens-Peter and adds: “In addition to this farm here in Stolltebüll, we bought another 750ha grassland and arable farm in the south of Denmark in 2017.” Jens-Peter is quite aware that his machine fleet is a bit oversized for the acreage they cover every year. He explains: “Two Krone BiG X forage harvesters – an 880 and a 630 – take care of harvesting our own approx. 900ha of maize and two customer fields. This means, our machines are a bit over the top, but with the two farms situated 60km apart, 26 27
