Silage July 2020

Silage

July JJu uly ly 2020 202 020 20

16-page 16 6 feature f t

High hopes Byrneside contractor Graeme Donaldson admits the hay and silage component of his business has slowed, with many dairy farmers leaving the industry. But for those still milking, a good silage season looks likely. See page 18.

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PAGE 16—’Silage’, July, 2020

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’Silage’, July, 2020—PAGE 17

silage making

Farmer weighs up feed options

By Rodney Woods

he upcoming silage season T is set to be one of the best yet, according to Tatura dairy farmer Hamish Crawford. ‘‘It’s looking unbelievably good compared to the previous couple of years,’’ Mr Crawford said. ‘‘I can’t remember it being better, (although) 2014 was a pretty good year.’’

While Mr Crawford grows his own feed for his cattle, he does purchase some of his hay off Mooroopna’s Tim Gaffy, from Gaffy’s Tractor Hire. ‘‘I used to buy a bit of lucerne off him, but the horse market has pushed me out of it a bit because they can pay more,’’ he said. ‘‘I buy a lot of vetch hay, which is a substitute for lucerne, and through that relationship, I still buy some of that off him. ‘‘If I’m lucky, he might throw some bleached lucerne at me at normal dairy farmer rates because the horse market doesn’t like bleached lucerne.’’

Mr Crawford cannot fault the quality of hay he buys from Mr Gaffy. ‘‘The quality is extremely good, it’s very clean, it never has any weeds in it and they know what they are doing.’’

When it comes to his owngrown feed, Mr Crawford said he was tossing up whether to

Mr Crawford buys some of his feed from Mooroopna’s Tim Gaffy, from Gaffy’s Tractor Hire.

Pictures: Rodney Braithwaite Tatura dairy farmer Hamish Crawford is contemplating the costs of harvesting silage in bulk rather than in small bales.

produce bulk silage or continue producing small bales. ‘‘We grow 1400 small bales a year,’’ he said. ‘‘The cost of the capital equipment that (going bulk) will require is restricting that decision. ‘‘We have too many small round bales and should be going bulk to reduce the price per tonne of making it. ‘‘But I have been scared to invest in the equipment.’’

When harvest time comes around, Mr Crawford calls on

father and son contracting duo Jack and Nick Boers from nearby Waranga Shores, and explained the importance of getting the right contractor for his business. ‘‘I’ve had the same contractor for 10 years,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s about building the trust so they know the outcome I want. ‘‘They understand my operation and that timing is crucial and will do the hours. ‘‘They look after me because they know I’ll use them next year.’’

In a normal year, Mr Crawford uses one tonne of feed per cow.

He milks 500 head of mostly Holstein Friesians.

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PAGE 18—’Silage’, July, 2020

silage making

Season looks good for

By Rodney Woods

ith dairy farmers making W up the majority of his hay and silage clients, contractor Graeme Donaldson admitted that side of the business had declined.

But for those still milking cows, he said there were high hopes for a good season.

Mr Donaldson, who runs the Byrneside contracting business, Donaldson Ag, with his father, who is also named Graeme, said the recent rain had provided farmers with an option that had not been available to them for a while. ‘‘With water in the catchments this year it may tempt farmers to cut an early silage crop then reirrigate and get a cut of hay,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s a benefit of being able to cut silage early. ‘‘It hasn’t been an option recently. ‘‘A lack of water availability and high water prices has restricted them.’’

Mr Donaldson said having the option of cutting the crop for both hay and silage increased the quality of feed. ‘‘It makes the difference if you can cut two quality crops rather than one mature crop as the feed tests drop off dramatically.’’

Byrneside contractor Graeme Donaldson stands in front of his John Deere 6140M tractor, which he purchased from Haeusler’s Shepparton.

Pictures: Megan Fisher

➤ Continued on page 19.

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’Silage’, July, 2020—PAGE 19

silage making

quality hay and silage ➤ From page 18.

Mr Donaldson uses John Deere tractors and Kuhn balers, which he purchased from Haeusler’s Shepparton and explains why he keeps on going back. ‘‘My old man has been buying from there for more than 30 years,’’ he said. ‘‘Kuhn are very good at backing their product and the John Deere tractors are better

than anything else. ‘‘I’ve tried a few others but they’re (John Deere tractors) a premium product.’’

Haeusler’s sales representative Colin Down agreed the machinery used by Mr Donaldson was top shelf. ‘‘John Deere is a premium brand, they hold their value and are always quality,’’ he said. ‘‘With the new models out, the

ease of use is really nice, the comfort and feature layouts are great and they work well in combination with hay balers and the new transmissions. ‘‘The Kuhn balers that Graeme uses are a high density baler and come with a large pick-up and are one of the biggest balers in the market. ‘‘We sell both John Deere and Kuhn balers but we probably sell

more of the Kuhn balers.’’

With many dairy farmers leaving the industry recently, Mr Donaldson said the hay and silage side of his business had slowed. ‘‘In the hay and silage space, dairy is our client base but we have had a significant downturn in the last decade,’’ he said. ‘‘There doesn’t seem to be a lot of sheep and beef farmers

doing silage, it’s more dairy and there’s not many of them left.’’

When asked for any tips on making quality silage, Mr Donaldson said cutting the crop at the right time was the key to success. ‘‘You need to cut it at the right time and keep it clean and airtight. ‘‘Every crop is different but you should cut it before it reaches too much maturity.’’

Graeme Donaldson says Kuhn has a great track record of backing its products, and the option of cutting crops for both silage and hay could be available to farmers this season.

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By choosing Tama Crop Baling products this season, you’re ensuring baling runs as quickly and efficently as possible.

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Visit www.tama-australia.com.au or call 03 9361 8100 for details

PAGE 20—’Silage’, July, 2020

silage making

Ten tips for creating top silage ➤ Even when good silage preservation is expected, inoculants can improve silage quality and animal production. ➤ Additives will not compensate for poor silage management (late harvest, slow wilting or poor sealing).

If making chopped silage: ➤ Roll pits/stacks/bunkers throughout the harvest process to eliminate air. ➤ Finer chop will be easier to compact. ➤ Seal pits or stacks as soon as harvest is complete, ideally within three days of starting large pits or stacks.

If making baled silage: ➤ Aim for high-density bales to minimise air pockets. ➤ Wrap or seal bales as soon as possible after baling. ➤ Minimise damage to stretchwrap by wrapping at the storage site or use specialist equipment to transport bales to storage.

SW DPI has provided 10 N tips to produce quality silage.

PLANNING 1. Why conserve forage? ➤ What are your business goals? ➤ Does silage fit into the whole farm plan by meeting the production and management goals? ➤ Is silage the most economic and/or practical option to fill a feed gap, to balance the ration or utilise excess pasture?

2. Always target high-quality silage. It: ➤ Maximises animal production potential. ➤ Reduces production, storage and feedout costs per unit of stored ME (metabolisable energy). ➤ Increases management flexibility.

3. Minimise costs: ➤ Are your harvesting, storage and feedout systems well matched to maximise efficiency and minimise costs? ➤ Should you invest capital in silage equipment? Should you consider using a contractor? ➤ Will capital investment increase efficiency and therefore increase profitability?

4. Start with high-quality forage: ➤ Grow crops and pastures that produce high-quality forage and have high-yield potential.

MAKING 5. Cut at the recommended growth stage: ➤ Forage quality declines as the crop or pasture matures. Time of harvest is important. ➤ Consider the effect on regrowth of pastures and forage crops. ➤ Maximise pasture utilisation by integrating silage cuts with grazing.

6. Wilt as quickly as possible to target dry matter (ideally within 24 hours, but less than 48): ➤ Leave the swath as wide as

possible. ➤ Use a mower conditioner. ➤ Use a tedder to spread the windrow. ➤ Don’t over-wilt — field losses increase and silage is harder to compact.

7. Minimise losses (of quality and quantity) during harvest and storage: ➤ Harvest at the target dry matter level. ➤ Certain additives will improve silage fermentation if wilting conditions are poor.

FEEDING 8. Ensure feedout system will support high intake: ➤ Ease of removing and eating the silage (accessibility) affects intake. ➤ The feeding space allocated per animal and access time will affect intake.

9. Minimise losses during feedout: ➤ Good feeding facilities will reduce losses.

➤ Control access during feeding to eliminate trampling and fouling. ➤ Feed regularly and only in quantities that will be consumed between feeds. ➤ Keep feedout areas clean to prevent contamination of fresh batches. ➤ High-feed quality will reduce wastage.

EVALUATING 10. Evaluate the whole silage system — how can it be made more profitable? ➤ Keep records of field operations — were all operations done at the right time? What could have been improved? ➤ Keep records of what crops/ pasture are stored. ➤ Use feed tests to monitor silage quality. Is it acceptable?

Given the parent forage, should it be better? ➤ Use feed tests to monitor animal production. ➤ Monitor storage losses. Can you explain why you are getting losses in storage? ➤ Estimate feedout losses. How can they be reduced? ➤ Monitor silage costs. Are there opportunities for reducing costs?

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’Silage’, July, 2020—PAGE 21

silage making

Weather to affect silage harvest any dairy regions, M particularly in southeastern Australia, are dealing with quite wet winter conditions and this will likely have an impact in spring when it comes to silage harvesting.

Dealing with wet conditions at silage harvest is a matter of managing and adapting to minimise the impact on silage yield and quality, as well as the management of those paddocks for the remainder of the season.

There are no easy solutions, but the following tips might help: ➤ Think about where you can select ‘‘drier paddocks’’ on your farm that might be ready for silage a bit earlier and try manipulating the grazing rotation, so these paddocks are the ones dropped out of the rotation first for silage. ➤ Use a tedder at harvest to increase the drying process and reach target dry matter percentage quicker (more than 30 per cent dry matter for pit silage and more than 40 per cent for baled silage). Set the tynes higher when tedding a previously pugged paddock to avoid mixing dirt with the mowed grass. ➤ Be flexible and proactive in spring — if a few days of dry weather present an opportunity to conserve surplus pasture earlier than expected, be prepared to take advantage of it. ➤ Try and avoid making silage from severely pugged paddocks with divots greater than 5 cm (see picture one); these will have

Picture one: Severely pugged pastures. poorer-quality pasture, and grass will have more mud and dirt on the leaves (which results in poorer fermentation and bad quality silage). ➤ Much of the grass will be rotting, even if it becomes dry enough to travel on this ground with machinery later in spring — it may be better to graze these paddocks through spring and use them for a summer crop if possible, or earmark for resowing. ➤ For medium pugging damage with 2 cm to 5 cm divots (shown in figure two) — these kinds of paddocks can be an option for silage, but it will still be affected by mud and dirt on the leaves. ➤ Getting onto the paddock with machinery without too much damage is the biggest challenge

and using an additive on ground like this to aid fermentation will be beneficial. If using an additive, make sure to apply at the recommended rate. ➤ Picture three shows minimal pugging damage (less than 2 cm divots in the soil). This kind of ground should be treated as normal when it comes to silage harvest. Cutting as early as you can will improve the nutritive value of the silage.

— Ruairi McDonnell Dairy Australia Feedbase and Animal Nutrition lead ➤ Dairy Australia will host a webinar on spring silage on Thursday, July 30, from 12 pm to 1.15 pm. To register, contact your local Dairy Australia Regional Development Program.

Picture two: Medium pugged pastures.

Picture three: Minimal pugging damage.

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PAGE 22—’Silage’, July, 2020

silage making

Guaranteed feed security ilage is one source of S security for farm businesses, as it can store high

quality feed until needed — years or decades in the future.

This provides more options to finish or maintain livestock, no matter what the season.

Lallemand Animal Nutrition technical services manager David Lewis said growing or contract growing fodder may present a better long term solution for many livestock producers in managing feed inventory and costs. ‘‘A lot of extensive livestock producers think that feeding silage is purely in the domain of feedlots or large dairies with their own cropping programs,’’ he said. ‘‘Nothing could be further from the truth.’’

Mr Lewis said silage made from irrigated or dryland crops formed the backbone of hundreds of feeding systems in dairy, beef and sheep enterprises throughout Australia. ‘‘Livestock producers are using baled silage through to large bulk silage systems. ‘‘It really comes down to developing a silage system that meets the needs of each situation from drought reserves through to high level production.

‘‘Some are using silage in their weaning programs to make sure heifers and mature breeders achieve critical mating weights and body condition scores, respectively, which can have a positive impact on the lifelong profitability of your herd. ‘‘For others, silage is part of an intensive production systems for milk and meat and as reserves to sustain production or maintain their precious genetic base during bad years to limit destocking.’’

He said many beef producers were also increasingly using silage in their backgrounding or finishing programs, to make sure their steers achieve market specifications and leave the property on time.

Although the majority of silage produced is consumed within 12 to 18 months, silage can be stored for 10, 20 or even 30 years and used as a drought management strategy.

Mr Lewis said drought was a reminder for livestock producers to continually focus on their longer term feeding strategies.

Lallemand Animal Nutrition offers a full range of products and services relating to silage production, management, nutrition and training.

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Mowers are user-friendly assey Ferguson has M introduced the DM TL-V series of vertical lift, linkage mounted disc mowers to the extensive range of hay tools already on offer across the Australian market. ‘‘This range of mowers are designed with the user in mind,’’ Massey Ferguson product manager John Russell said. ‘‘For example, they fold vertically over centre to become a compact and balanced unit for transport. ‘‘Other design features include a hydro-pneumatic suspension system which, combined with a central support mount, provides excellent flotation and suspension.’’

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’Silage’, July, 2020—PAGE 23

silage making

Baler upgrades to meet demand rought conditions across D large parts of Australia prompted a surge in demand for balers in recent seasons.

With that demand expected to continue this year, Case IH has flagged a number of upgrades and new features within its baler ranges.

Case IH Australia/New Zealand product manager for hay and harvest Tim Slater said they expected demand to continue. ‘‘Many farmers invested in a new baler in the past few years as hay and straw production became a vital income lifeline in droughtaffected regions,’’ he said. ‘‘While conditions have certainly eased across some areas, we still expect hay and straw production to remain a popular option for many businesses, with the market for balers and associated equipment to reflect that demand. ‘‘With this in mind, we’re excited about the updates we’re able to offer customers on our model year 2020 baler ranges, reinforcing the reputation for excellence our large square and round balers have always been known for.’’

For the ever-popular and reliable large square baler LB4XL series, one of the most anticipated new features is a new knotting concept that dramatically improves the process.

Case IH has introduced the newgeneration TwinePro knotter on all LB4XL balers, including the LB434XL for the Australia/New Zealand market.

Improvements and upgrades to the Case IH LB4XL large square baler and RB5 round baler series are sure to impress.

This new knotting concept combines the advantages of the double knot system with the additional benefit of a loop knot.

Key benefits include a reduction in twine off-cuts left on the bales, stronger knots with higher tensile strength and improved daily productivity. ‘‘Case IH has been a pioneer of double-knot technology, but no matter how good your product, you have to keep striving to do better and this is what we’ve achieved with the TwinePro knotter,’’ Mr Slater said.

Other changes include a stronger pick-up system and redesigned rotor cutter tines to improve cutting performance in

high volume conditions.

For the RB5 Series round balers, there is now the option for the addition of a fully-integrated moisture sensor, the first time this has been offered for Case IH round balers.

The operator can use the moisture information — as they’re operating the baler — to make an informed decision on the potential quality of the crop and storage options. ‘‘By using a baler-mounted moisture sensor, the operator has real-time information on the moisture of the crop being baled,’’ Mr Slater said. ‘‘There’s no need to stop baling to probe the bales, as would

previously be done with a handheld moisture sensor.’’

Another significant improvement is the addition of an AFS Pro 700 display monitor, which now comes as standard in the round balers, with the larger screen giving the operator a clearer view of the baler functions. ‘‘With many of the features controlled from the monitor, like bale core size and bale and core density, along with information on the size and shape of the bales, the increase in display size will be welcomed by many operators,’’ Mr Slater said.

As with the large square balers, there’s also a range of pick-up refinements introduced to the

round balers.

The pick-up end flare shape has been revised to improve edge feeding, and a larger diameter wind guard roller and the ability to adjust to a lower position for improved feeding in all crop conditions has also been introduced, with the new design resisting stalling and ploughing of the windrow when compared to narrower diameter rollers. ‘‘These new features and benefits across our baler offering are about enhancing performance and providing increased productivity for our customers where it counts,’’ Mr Slater said.

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PAGE 24—’Silage’, July, 2020

silage making

Plan ahead for spring silage aking spring silage will M depend on seasonal conditions that enable a genuine surplus of forage to grow or a major problem in cropping areas such as drought, late frost or hail where silage may be a salvage exercise.

Choice of silage method will depend on machinery and contractors available and relative cost.

While bulk chopped silage may be a cheap option, wrapped bales will always incur the cost of plastic and therefore must be of premium feed quality to be profitable.

Early thinking about spring silage should include maintenance of machinery, storage areas and tracks, sourcing plastic, twine or net wrap and inoculants.

Growers making early and regular contact with contractors or vice-versa will help reduce problems when everyone is busy.

Choice of which paddocks to cut will consider the obvious topography, access and feedout issues, with some people preferring to cut convenient paddocks while others will graze close paddocks and cut further away to reduce stock walking.

Soil fertility and weed management are major

Many factors affect how, when and where to make silage.

considerations when we start getting into detail on paddock selection and management.

Silage removes large amounts of nutrients including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S), which must be allowed for and monitored using soil tests.

It can be a great way to reduce nutrient build-up in effluent disposal areas provided withholding periods are observed to minimise animal health risks.

In preparing for spring silage,

nitrogen and potassium will need to be managed to ensure good growth and yield as well as feed quality and high quality silage.

Deficiencies will limit yield but excess can also be a problem.

If potassium is needed, and it often is if silage or hay is regularly taken from a paddock, then split applications early in spring to allow growth and again after silage harvest to replace nutrients will reduce the risk of luxury uptake.

This is where the plant absorbs more K than it needs meaning

you lose fertiliser, while the silage has excess K with possible associated feed quality issues.

Nitrogen also needs to be applied sensibly.

Top-dressing early in spring to ensure good growth is usually essential but excess N can interfere with silage fermentation and nitrate poisoning is a risk.

Both are unusual in Australian silage but should be considered.

Top-dressing rates for ryegrass will depend on if you take a grazing management priority and harvest at three leaves or want to optimise your yield of high quality silage and harvest at the boot or early head emergence stage of growth.

One guide to how much fertiliser should be applied after the grazing prior to silage harvest is to allow for the nutrients removed in the silage, which would be 30 kg N/tonne DM (dry matter) if the silage was 19 per cent crude protein with about 25 kg K/tonne DM. We often underestimate how much N and K is removed in silage and hay.

Weed management is also a major consideration in paddock selection, both from a silage quality and weed control perspective.

Using silage for weed control is highly effective and becoming

more important as increasing herbicide resistance issues affect more farmers.

Silage will help reduce weeds in two ways.

Early harvest compared to hay means that often the weed seed is not fully developed and also the silage fermentation process will significantly reduce weed seed viability if there is any mature seed harvested.

From a silage quality perspective, grass weeds may not be a big issue but broadleaf weeds can affect silage quality.

Another question which sometimes influences paddock selection is disease or insect damage.

This especially applies to rust, where the general advice is to make a decision early and avoid badly infested crops because the rust on leaves is dead material, which could have a negative affect on fermentation and feed quality similar to any dead matter that is mixed in with silage.

Finally, when paddocks for silage are identified, make sure you remove hazards such as irrigation pipes, electric fence posts and pasture harrows and mark rocks or stumps early while you can see them.

— Neil Griffiths pasture production technical specialist, NSW DPI

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’Silage’, July, 2020—PAGE 25

silage making

New standard in round baling UHN Farm Machinery has K introduced its new VB 7100 series for large-scale farmers and contractors looking for a highperformance baler that creates extremely dense bales.

The two models in the VB 7100 series, the 7160 and 7190, produce 1.60 m and 1.85 m round bales.

These variable chamber round balers create bales of up to 140 kg/cubic metre and give a capacity of up to 30 tonne/hour in various crop conditions.

KUHN marketing manager and balers product specialist Michael Murer said the VB 7100 set a new standard in round baling. ‘‘Agricultural entrepreneurs are facing ever-increasing demands on transport and production efficiency,’’ Mr Murer said. ‘‘With a faster and more robust baler that produces rock-hard bales they can save precious time and money, resulting in a high return on investment. ‘‘Our long experience and valuable knowledge in the round baling sector helped us translating our customers’ needs into the development of an entirely new baler range.’’

In combination with the measurements of the moisture

sensor, it automatically adapts the baling pressure according to the different crops and crop conditions, without the interference of the driver — leading to the most economical use of the baler, without compromising on performance.

The four-belt and three-roller design of the bale chamber ensures fast, consistent bale formation in any crop condition.

The VB 7100 series was designed with efficiency in mind, with the tailgate operation taking four seconds.

The rotor tines are made out of Hardox wear plate and 50 mm spherical roller bearings are fitted on the main driven rollers with seals on the idling rollers.

These seals, consisting of a unique combination of two specially developed rings, ensure contamination is kept away from the bearings.

The baler takes control of the baling density and the balers’ power consumption and moisture indication, and many other data points can be monitored on the ISOBUS display terminal.

The operator can load the net roll while safely on the ground and the net binding system can be loaded from both sides of the machine. ➤ For more information, phone KUHN Farm Machinery on 9982 1490.

KUHN’s VB 7100 round baler series boasts high performance and ease of use.

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PAGE 26—’Silage’, July, 2020

silage making

Sometimes size does matter or the past 11 years, the F Buchanan family has been operating a Keenan MechFiber MF360 (20 cubic metre) diet feeder, having changed from a vertical machine in 2009.

Milking 600 cows in Katamatite, the Keenan diet feeder has been an integral part of the Buchanans’ pasture-based feeding system.

When it came to upgrading their diet feeder this year, John Buchanan found the decision simple — opting to upgrade a size to the Keenan MechFiber MF380 (24 cubic metre) machine.

For Mr Buchanan, the advantages of the diet feeder are numerous — including enabling consistency of feedout of the diet for the cows along the feed bunch with different machine operators.

The InTouch weigh-box technology delivers consistency, guiding diet preparation and feedout when there are multiple operators on the farm operating the machine.

The InTouch technology allows for simple adjustment of cow numbers or diets for different diet types, particularly during calving season.

The software simply recalculates ingredient amounts

Katamatite dairy farmer John Buchanan recently purchased a new Keenan MechFiber diet feeder.

to ensure the diet stays consistent during preparation. ‘‘We regularly make a number of smaller diet mixes for our young stock and transition cow

groups on the farm,’’ Mr Buchanan said. ‘‘The Keenan MechFiber machine makes these with the same precision, large or small.

Something we were not able to do with confidence previously. ‘‘The fuel efficiency savings with operating the MechFiber machine over the last 11 years

have been significant to the business compared with the previous vertical mixer machine.’’

The Keenan MechFiber machine operates comfortably at 1300 to 1500 tractor RPM (mixing and feeding out) compared with 2400 tractor RPM of the old vertical mixer. ‘‘The ability to restart the Keenan MechFiber machine under full load is another significant advantage feature of its design,’’ Mr Buchanan said. ‘‘The Keenan MechFiber machine with its simple engineering design has always had good engineering support over the years for us. ‘‘And recently, with Alltech Lienert relaunching the brand on the market here in Australia, the nutritional support fits the Keenan brand of old. ‘‘With Keenan being part of the Alltech Lienert business here in Australia we also use their feed nutrition supplements and have also recently completed an Alltech E-CO2 Carbon Footprint Benchmark monitor, which was an initiative through our milk processor.’’ ➤ For more information on the Keenan MechFiber range, Alltech Lienert nutritional solutions or Alltech E-CO2 assessments, contact your local representative or phone 1800 533 626.

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’Silage’, July, 2020—PAGE 27

silage making

No shortcuts to sealing stacks here are no short cuts when sealing Tstacks of forage harvested silage, according to the Australian Fodder Industry Association.

The peak body said sticking a few tyres on top to hold the plastic down and throwing a bit of dirt around the edges, was not a suitable airtight seal.

A few tips are available for farmers to help them achieve perfectly stored silage with no visible signs of waste from decomposition or mould.

Precision-harvested material of about 1 cm to 5 cm can be ensiled at 40 to 50 per cent dry matter as its length will allow for easier and better compaction, but must still be well sealed to preserve the benefits.

Roll your silage slowly to allow the weight of the tractor to compress the material. Spread the harvest material thinly in layers of about 150 mm to 200 mm.

Ensure stacks are sealed straight after harvest by pulling a plastic sheet over the stack at night and using tyres around the stack edge with a few in the centre to weigh down the plastic. Ideally the stack should be completed within one to three days.

Fix any holes immediately.

The key to perfectly stored silage is sealing stacks straight after harvest with a well-weighted plastic sheet, sealed airtight at the edges.

Prevent stock damage by constructing fences and gateways.

Crops harvested with loader wagons or double choppers, which harvest relatively long chopped material of 5 cm to 15 cm, should be harvested at 28 to 35 per cent dry matter.

If material is much drier than this, compaction by rolling will be much less effective unless an extremely heavy machine is used, because not enough air will have been excluded.

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PAGE 28—’Silage’, July, 2020

silage making

New balers are raising the bar ew Holland Agriculture continues to implement improvements to its roll-belt variable chamber balers with silage feeding, net wrapping system functionality and introduction of Intelliview IV large coloured display.

These improvements to the latest generation of this marketleading baler range continues to raise the bar on performance,

N

efficiency and operator comfort.

New Holland fodder conservation hay and forage product manager Sune Nielsen said the company had been an innovator in the roll-belt baler segment for more than 25 years, ‘‘introducing pioneering firsts that have changed the way variable chambers operate today’’.

More in-field time, increased productivity and continuous dayafter-day operation in silage and

hay is a focus of the balers.

A new larger diameter roller windguard has been introduced to maximum performance in all crops and allow more compression over the pick-up to deliver a more uniform mat of material into the bale chamber for consistent bale shape.

To further strengthen the feeder drive line, an optional radial pin clutch can be fitted in place of the pick-up shearbolt to

increase productivity and reduce downtime.

A consistent and reliable net wrapping system is critical to round balers.

New Holland has tweaked its system over the past few years to make this even better in all conditions; changes to the net delivery and net cutting has seen great improvements to the net wrap consistency and ensures edge-to-edge wrapping.

New Holland’s Intelliview IV large colour touchscreen display is now standard on all model year 2020 round balers, giving the operator fingertip control of all baler functions on the go.

The Intelliview IV has been within the New Holland product range for some time now.

Used on all combine harvesters, forage harvesters, large tractors and large square balers, the display has been a reliable and user-friendly interface.

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PAGE 30—’Silage’, July, 2020

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