Farming Monthly National May 2018 | Page 24

| Grassland Best practice forage quality clinic at Grassland UK KUHN Farm Machinery will be hosting a forage quality clinic at this year’s Grassland UK event (Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, 10th May) to help farmers improve the quality of, and get the most from, their baled forage. he best practice workshop will focus on the importance of bale structure and consistency, film application, elasticity and cling characteristics, and will provide a detailed explanation of KUHN’s unique and patented film binding system. “Unlike other film binding systems which use wide mantle film for binding, the KUHN system uses two standard 750mm stretch film rolls to fully encapsulate the bale,” explains KUHN product specialist, Katie Calcutt. “This not only eliminates the need for an initial layer of netting to be placed around the cylindrical side of the bale, but also improves silage preservation and makes the recycling of waste plastic easier. It also reduces plastic usage by up to 30% by pre-stretching the wrapping film by 70% prior to application. Film loading is also quicker and easier as each roll T weighs just 27kg, compared to the wider rolls which can weigh between 40-90kg.” The clinic will also discuss the importance of cutting crops at the correct growth stage, assessment of dry matter content prior to baling, the correct techniques for handling and storing film rolls, machinery maintenance and wrapper calibration for optimum film coverage. MERGE MAXX 950: high output belt merger KUHN will also be using the Grassland UK event to promote its new belt merger grass rake: aimed at large-scale grassland farms and contractors, the MERGE MAXX 950 uses two adjustable, bi- directional merger belts to give a maximum grass pick-up width of 9.50 metres. The bi-directional design of the MERGE MAXX 950’s twin belts provides multiple windrow delivery options: forage can be delivered into a single central windrow, a single lateral windrow (left or right 24 | Farming Monthly | May 2018 side), two lateral windrows (one either side) or a central and left or right lateral windrow. The MERGE MAXX uses auto- regulating pick-up rollers which self-adjust according to crop thickness to produce a uniform, airy and faster-drying windrow. Compared to a conventional grass rake, the MERGE MAXX 950 offers a 30-100% increase in working rate, with the greatest time savings to be made when handling wet or heavier forage crops. www.farmingmonthly.co.uk