Trends in feed harvesting technology

Homogeneous feed qualities directly impact the animals’ milk and meat yield as well as the cost structure of the business segment. From mowing to harvesting, all developments are aimed at handling the harvested crop according to its intended use and at increasingly relieving the drivers’ workload. This includes front-mounted mower control that is adjusted to the inclination and curve in order to avoid ‘beard formation’ as well as the recently introduced automatic mower conditioner adjustment depending on the mass flow and the desired degree of wilting. The cutting qualities of self-loading trailers are oriented to those of forage harvester. The objective is a low percentage of excessive lengths. In the case of round balers with a variable bale chamber, bales with the same dry matter content are advantageous for a homogeneous supply of nutrients. Dimensionally stable and gas-tight round bales remain the ultimate goal with nets and wrapping films. Consistent cutting qualities and a very high throughput can be optimised and controlled on forage harvesters from the pick-up to the discharge chute – relieving the strain on the environment and the driver.

Mowing, tedding, swathing

The use of mower combinations is in great demand. The German Vehicle Licensing Regulations (StVZO) do not permit implement widths in excess of 3 metres. This is understandable if further solutions can be expected from front-mounted mowers. For instance, automated, arc-shaped lateral traversing enables optimum use of the mower width at the front when driving on slopes and cornering.

Automatic conditioner adjustment offers a new approach for homogeneous feed qualities even during mowing. Crop and weather conditions rarely enable a controllable drying process after mowing. Heterogeneous growth leads to different degrees of wilting on the field and throughout the entire cut. The result is challenging, because extensive fluctuations in the degree of wilting lead to different degrees of acidity in the silage, in turn reducing the animals’ desire to feed. The desired objective of achieving a maximum dry matter difference of 10% in the silage is rarely attained. The objective is clearly formulated with automatic conditioner adjustment: a consistent degree of wilting across a field and a cut. Information on biomass growth is necessary to achieve this. It can be obtained by using either satellite data or a corresponding sensor directly during mowing. The satellites supply multi-spectral data for the land that can be used to produce an application map. The Task Controller communicates the target values as a percentage via the position data. Two sensors on the tractor’s steps register the biomass in real time and immediately control conditioner adjustment. Activation and adjustment are carried out via a separate ISOBUS menu. Besides improved feed quality, further practical advantages include increased efficiency and better operating comfort. This is an interesting technology, particularly for farms with a high percentage of land with very different growth rates.

The possibility of being able to control mowing, tedding and swathing autonomously in the future necessitates corresponding ‘smart implements’. On the one hand, these check the work process, but they are also able to control it. Taking the aspect of a lack of skilled workers into consideration, drivers or operators will then be able to concentrate solely on ‘driving’ in the future without having detailed expert knowledge of the work process. In combination with GPS, appropriate driving strategies can be created prior to the job and transferred to the vehicle. This extensively eliminates driver errors and therefore damage in advance. Incidentally, it is also beneficial to the protection of wild animals.

Wider is always possible with three-point linkage. This is how you could describe the first 12-rotor tedder with a working width of 13 metres that is being launched onto the market with a special folding mechanism for road transport. While the technical solution is very good, it raises the question of soil protection, because safe transport on the road is not possible without a sizeable ballast weight at the front. On the field, the load bearing capacity of the soil is the most critical factor, because ruts equate to an increased risk of contaminating the feed and therefore lead to fermentation risks.

Efficiency in swathing is also a requirement in alpine regions. To nevertheless enable efficient driving in tight curves with large working widths, the first front-mounted beam windrower is telescopic. That’s good for road safety and for process efficiency.

Self-loading trailers

Forage harvesters have their USP in the area of stepless cutting length adjustment. Short cutting lengths are now also making their way into grass silage. At 10 to 14 millimetres, dairy cattle specialists are addressing a length spectrum that only choppers can achieve. The advantages of these short structures are readily apparent:

• Very low percentage of excessive lengths that can be selected in the trough

• Good distribution qualities during silaging with high compaction performance

• Efficient removal with low degassing risk

• Quick breakdown in the feed mixer wagon without load peaks

• Homogeneous feed mixtures for productive animals

With cutting lengths of less than 30 millimetres, well-known manufacturers are now also attempting to score points with self-loading trailers. Besides precise cutting, particular attention also has to be paid to the percentage of excessive lengths. This is not so easy to eliminate in self-loading trailers, because they do not offer any classic pre-compaction. A new material flow concept has brought the pick-up closer to the rotor. The chambers can therefore be filled better in the material flow. Actual pre-compaction – the higher the better – then takes place upstream of the cutter bar. If the windrow is not of a sufficient thickness and the terrain does not permit a higher working speed, two belt pulleys can be exchanged on the drive side. With a rotational speed of 40 rather than 47 revolutions per minute, a 15 percent lower rotational speed is one option for better pre-compaction. The weak point of all loading systems on self-loading trailers is the edge area of the rotor. If the windrows are sufficiently wide, the harvested material can be fed to the rotor using feed augers in the modern generation of self-loading trailers. By dividing the material flow at the outer cutter, the harvested material is again conveyed forwards using feed tines and then conducted into the new material flow. This technical effort is required to reduce the percentage of excessive lengths. This is a technology aimed at maintaining the competitiveness of self-loading trailers compared to forage harvesters.

Hydraulically driven pick-ups are now fitted as standard on high-performance self-loading trailers and baling machines. Adapted to the working speed and the feed masses, high and efficient pick-up rates are ensured. Added to these are better cutting qualities thanks to pre-compaction. Development is not standing still. Electric drives also promise settings that can be adjusted to the harvesting conditions, but with a new, separate drive that necessitates an accordingly powerful generator.

Balers

Round bales have proved their worth as a preservation alternative. The baler-wrapper combination offers the fastest preservation option. Just previously in the windrow and well cut by the cutter bar, the material immediately lands in the bale chamber. Whether variably or in the fixed chamber: after being compacted, the bale lands on the wrapper, which forms a virtually gas-tight fermentation chamber with the desired number of film wrappings – and all of this is done not even three minutes after being picked up. Although development is heading in the direction of larger bale diameters and a trend towards variable bale chambers can be seen, thought is also being given to those users who clearly prefer smaller diameters due to their building situation. Hobby livestock owners can now also be accommodated as well. Conversely, professional operations that do not manage to feed the silo in summer, have to combat post-heating and whose feed tastiness is reduced due to gas exchange want bales of more appropriate dimensions. This does not refer to the diameter, but to the bale content in kilogrammes of dry matter. This desire is understandable. As long as feed rations are calculated according to dry matter consumption, the content of the bale is important, not the weight. A bale with a diameter of 1.25 metres and a width of 1.2 metres has a volume of around 1.5 cubic metres. With a mean density of 200 kilogrammes of dry matter per cubic metre, this bale contains 300 kilogrammes of dry matter. If this quantity is appropriate, the bale can be fed into the mixer wagon in its entirety. If quantities are still lacking, the next bale is only consumed in part. This is impractical and awkward to implement. Bales with the desired dry matter content are the solution. In combination with resistance measurement though the bale, three weighing cells in the machine as a whole are used to determine the matter and the moisture. These values are recorded dynamically in the first bale. Integrated software calculates the total dry matter in the first bale. The desired target dry matter is input and the appropriate bale diameter is set. The bale diameter then decreases along with the moisture. This fully supports responsible trading in bale silage.

In the area of binder twine, nets and films, manufacturers are making efforts to take on an ecological and sustainable image. Many of these efforts have not proved successful to date. Of course, recycled materials in films are nothing new. However, giving preference to biologically degradable twines and nets is dangerous, because no scientific proof is available so far. Apart from that, the silage/haylage is also occasionally transferred. And then?

The traceability of packages is an important factor in trading. After knotting, the bale is marked with a tag on the twine. This tag contains all important information about the bale. Recording, logistics, storage and marketing can therefore be established according to trade-specific criteria. Without any additional technology other than the appropriate app on a smartphone, handling is simple, manageable and efficient.

Forage harvesters

High throughput capacities for all harvested crops, no blockages, low maintenance effort and, of course, appropriate driver relief are right at the top of the wish list when purchasing these expensive vehicles. Technical expectations start with the pick-up. It has also moved closer to the intake auger on forage harvesters. New drivetrains with belts and fully-automatic lubrication ensure a maintenance-free header. Redesigned pick-up reels and stronger tines with maintenance-free bearings increase durability. A roller crop press with a larger diameter, the downstream guide plate and the intake auger with an optimised pitch ensure an increased throughput – guaranteeing that the powerful choppers are used to capacity.

We have come to appreciate automatic windrow tracking on baling machines. It promises the same effects on choppers and helps to relieve the drivers’ workload in the long term. Grinding is needed wherever sharp cutters are in use. Depending on location and wear behaviour, the cutters have to be reground up to three times a day. The number of grinding cycles varies depending on the location, use and also the driver. After 400 to 450 grinding cycles, the grindstones have to be readjusted on the majority of chopper units. Amongst other things, this is a dirty job that takes up 30 to 45 minutes of working time – and that in the middle of the season. Help is on hand from a new grinding device in which the grindstone is located in a type of cartridge and can withstand up to 2,200 grinding cycles before it needs to be replaced. The encapsulated design additionally offers protection against environmental influences and guarantees the necessary sharpness whenever it is needed, thus relieving strain on the driver and the environment. The installation effort is also up to 70 percent lower.

By their nature, high throughput capacities quickly lead to a risk of blockages. This is all the more true when the driver is aware that he can also drive at full power in grass. The two key points, the transition to the blower and then the discharge chute, are not visible to the driver. Measurement of the material flow speed in the discharge chute provides the driver with a timely indication to adjust the working speed. This is an aid that prevents expensive downtime and can increase process performance.

NIRS technology is not new. Field-specific and seasonal yield data have to be used. It is good if software is available that can translate these figures into target and actual values and can therefore provide an indication of the future supply situation even during harvesting.

Quality control is also a special issue in maize harvesting. The CSPS value indicates the grains’ degree of processing. An app enables a quality classification for orientation purposes during harvesting. Good for the animal, the environment and the farmer’s pocket.

Conclusion

In addition to some hardware, digital technology and artificial intelligence are increasingly making their way into feed harvesting. A clear assessment is only possible after extensive practical use, which is to be welcomed.

Harvesting technology is increasingly being oriented to needs-based precision so that animals can consume even more nutrients and are therefore fed more in line with their performance. A process that also contributes to relieving the operators’ and livestock owners’ workload – while also taking ecology and sustainability into consideration, of course.