Grass & Forage
Buffalo promises ‘revolution’ in grassland harvesting
A new all-in-one rotor load- ing system on Fliegl’s Buffa- lo opens up a new dimension in grassland management effi - ciency, says the company. The machine combines a rotor loading system, pickup, cutting rotor, holding hopper and overloading apparatus. Straw, hay and grass are taken out of the swath by the pickup, chopped by an easy-pull cut- ting rotor, stored in the hop- per and then overloaded onto a transport vehicle.
This enables loading to take place continually while the machine is moving, says Fliegl – increasing effi cien- cy. The Buffalo received a Sil- ver Innovation Award at last year’s Agritechnica event and a patent application has been fi led for the all-in-one loading system.
Fliegl says its method is completely new: the loading assembly is continuously in operation in the fi eld and does not have to be emptied. There is no switching between load- ing and transport so at no time is the loading assembly unpro- ductive. This means 100% ca- pacity utilisation.
The holding hopper acts as a buffer between the pick- up and the overloading. This means the loading assem- bly and overloading assem- bly can be switched on or off independently of each other – increasing effi ciency over overloading systems without a hopper.
Plant breeders have have pushed yields to new levels
ew varieties of fodder beet are breaking the barriers for dry matter yield, ac- cording to the latest trial results published in February 2018 by Limagrain UK.
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Fodder beet varieties boast higher dry matter values High yielding crops are versatile feed
Led by fodder beet variety Brick
– launched commercially in 2017 – dry matter yields of high-per- forming varieties are now exceed- ing 20t/ha with Brick achieving a dry matter yield of 22.4tonnes/ha, says Limagrain fodder crop man- ager Martin Titley. “We’ve run trials on our site in Lincolnshire on 14 commercially available varieties of fodder beet for more than 10 years – but in the past two years we have seen sig- nifi cant increases in dry matter yields coming from new genetics.” The trial results show that Brick yielded 18% more dry matter than the control Mag- num, followed by another recent Kimagrain addition Tarine, which yielded 5% more than the control, says Mr Titley.
Sown in April, fodder beet is harvested from October onwards and can be fed in a total mixed ration or ad lib with maize silage, or it can be grazed in situ. Although there are no recommended lists for fodder beets, Limagrain publishes its annual trial data to help growers make informed
The difference in dry matter yields is 8t/ha between Brick and the worst performing variety. This is estimated to have a feed value of nearly £900/ha, based on AHDB’s relative feed value calculator that costs the dry matter in fodder beet at £111.69/tonne.
“These varieties with high dry matter yields are adding signifi - cant feed value to the crop – and the gap is widening between va- rieties,” says Mr Titley.
decisions. “This year’s results will
catch the eye of experienced and new fodder beet growers,” says Martin Titley, Limagrain’s fodder crop manager. “For the same growing costs, farmers can produce signifi cantly more dry matter per hectare by opting for higher yielding fodder beet varieties.”
So-called clean varieties of fodder beet also have advan- tages. “Fodder beets that show cleanliness at harvest are bene- fi cial where the crop is harvested and fed, but there are no wash- ing or chopping facilities availa- ble,” he adds.
“The variety Robbos, with
clean, yellow roots at harvest is very benefi cial here, and it also has a lower dry matter content of 19% that encourages intakes.”
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