Spread-A-Bale

Driving for increased efficiency - saving, time, labour and straw

Straw spreading machine, Spread-a-Bale has cut straw usage by up to one third and made savings sufficient for the system to pay for itself in less than one year according to Scott Barbour, who together with his father, Robert and brother, Graham run a 600 cow suckler finishing enterprise, near Jedburgh.

“Our Spread-a-Bale Midi is a good piece of kit, and one we wouldn’t be without,” he says. “We overwinter 1,800 head of cattle on four different farms, and we are using over 4,000 rectangular bales throughout a year. A third of the straw is homegrown and the rest bought in the swath and baled away from home.

“Until 12 years ago we used to spread the straw with a frontend fork lift and it used to take all day, three times a week. Nowadays, the straw spreading time has been reduced to approximately 16 hours a week, that’s a considerable labour saving. We are also making straw savings of between 25% and 30% thanks to the machine’s spreading rotors. They accelerate a mass of straw in order to throw it the full width of the pen without chopping it, consequently, longer straw makes for a longer lasting bed.

“The alternative mechanisation would have been a chopper blower, however we don’t like chopping straw, it makes a mess. We like to keep things tidy,” Scott explains. “Compared to a straw chopper, Spread-a-Bale generates minimal dust; the straw comes out of the machine, lands on ground without being blown into the rafters and accumulating outside the shed providing an opportunity for vermin. Minimal dust also makes for all round better animal welfare.”

County Down beef producer, Geoffrey Rodgers says: “Our Spread-a-Bale is one of those pieces of kit I wouldn’t be without. Bedding up time has been reduced over our sixmonth winter from two hours to 20 minutes a day - a massive labour saving that’s enabled the machine to pay for itself within two years.

“Added to that, we’re making 30% straw savings worth up to £80 a week,” comments Geoffrey who manages a 30-cow pedigree herd of mixed Continentals and 85 sucklers near Ballynahinch, and annually makes 400 round barley straw bales.

“The machine is reliable and makes for a safer environment. I no longer have to get in the pens to manually shake out the straw with a fork. And unlike other machines that shred straw, it creates minimal dust and the risk of flying stones has been eliminated. Furthermore, we’ve reduced daily requirements from two to 1.5 round bales since the machine enables me to manage the amount of straw spread as well as achieve a nice even spread.”

These findings are consistent with feedback from other livestock farmers, says former dairy producer Michael Hughes who invented, developed and patented Spreada-Bale. “Farmers are commonly reporting up to 50% straw saving over manual spreading with square bales and up to 35% for round bales. They are also reporting making time and labour savings of up to 75%; one 600kg rectangular bale can be spread in 45 seconds,” he says.

“The mechanism’s ability to minimize dust is contributing to reducing health risks for both farmers, operators and their livestock, whilst it also offers improved welfare. Furthermore, the entire system has a much reduced carbon footprint over any other mechanised system. Added together and Spreada-Bale is improving livestock farmers’ business efficiency - the machine is lowering their system’s overall costs and contributing to a competitive advantage.”