Grassland event a ‘solution provider’

DESPITE fair weather keeping many eager silage-makers at home, the RASE’s Grassland and Muck 2017 event attracted a good turnout of farmers and contractors eyeing ‘solution providers’.

Eleven new varieties of ryegrass and a new red clover featured in the 2017/2018 Recommended Grass and Clover Lists published in time for the Grassland and Muck event.

Only grasses and clovers that have undergone at least four years of independent testing for factors such as total and seasonal yield, feed quality, disease and persistence are included, 

“The lists give details on the performance and characteristics of each variety, helping farmers make informed decisions alongside their seed merchants about the ones that best meet their needs said Dr Liz Genever, AHDB senior scientist.

“The lists are an invaluable resource for grassland farmers, enabling them to select varieties that will perform well in a particular system.”

The Recommended Lists publication also includes technical information on how best to manage re-seeds and maximise grassland productivity.

Merchants can now download the handbook and full lists from the beefandlamb.ahdb.org.uk/returns and britishgrassland.com/rgcl websites and an on-line interactive version for perennial ryegrasses available at dairy.ahdb.org.uk has been updated.

New forage crop mixture

A NEW forage crop mixture – BarFinisher – introduced by Barenbrug at the event blends chicory, white clover, red clover and plantain and is said to produce a leafy, high quality feed from spring to autumn. 

It is claimed to be highly palatable and can recover quickly after grazing.

“A specialist forage crop mixture like this can be good for filling the gaps that can naturally occur in the grazing platform when grass quality decreases as the seasons change,” said Mhairi Dawson, R and D manager for Barenbrug.

She said BarFinisher can be used as a six-month or two-year crop as befits an individual farm’s approach to grass management, and each component provides a particular function.

Clover provides nitrogen to feed the crop and fill any spaces not occupied by herbs, while the red clover, alongside the herbs, provides a high quality feed throughout dry periods.

Chicory has anthelmintic properties that can help get rid of parasites and in combination these components deliver a high mineral content that is rich in zinc, potassium and copper.

Lots to muck about with

The ‘muck’ section of the event attracted a good deal of attention as farmers and contractors sought more capacity or greater efficiency in the application of these nutrient-providing manures, slurries and AD digestate.

A new package of weigh cells and an electronic monitoring and control system give the HiSpec Xcel spreader precision application and data recording capability.

Providing data to the ISOBUS-compliant RDS iSOCAN Apollo control terminal, the weigh cells enable conveyor speed to be regulated relative to ground speed for a consistent application rate.

With a GNSS satellite location system connected, the spreader can also work to variable application maps and reduce the operator’s workload through automatic headland on/off control.

The Xcel has a rear-mounted chain flail spreading mechanism enclosed by a hood so that material is thoroughly shredded before being distributed by twin discs.

Thanks to an increase in speed, material can now be spread across a swath up to 24m wide, which not only promotes increased output but also fits some controlled traffic system to confine wheelings.

These capabilities are also available on the Maelstrom spreader from Harry West (Prees), which is a newcomer to the range that moves away from the company’s previous straight-sided design.

With a flared upper section, capacity is increased for the same footprint – in this case to just over 10m³ filled level or 14m³ with a more typical heaped load from a machine weighing a little more than six tonnes and measuring 8m from tip to toe.

Satellite-location and weighing system are separate options – the former adds accurate application recording and variable rate capability to the latter.

Less sophisticated options are also available, including electric operation of the hydraulic functions, a guillotine slurry door and moulded mudguards to add to the standard fit leaf spring suspension drawbar and new LED lights.

Hybrid loader

What’s the result of crossing a telehandler with a skid steer loader – a machine that can turn in its own length and reach over feed barriers is the answer, according to JCB’s surprise introduction at the event of the new Teleskid.

Wheeled and tracked versions of the machine have been developed at the company’s US factory but only the wheeled model is being offered here for the time being.

A lift height of 4m means the Teleskid can place bales and the like 8% higher than any skid steer loader and reach 60% further ahead of the front wheels at 2.25m.

All this without impairing the renowned manoeuvrability and compact size of a skid-steer machine, which allows access to buildings denied to larger or less wieldy loaders.

Like its more conventional skid-steer loaders, the Teleskid has a single Powerboom, so drivers can enter and leave the roomy cab from the side rather than having to scramble over whatever attachment is being used.

Grass spreader for clamps

Demonstrating the purpose of the Holaras Viking grass spreader was a bit limited on the ‘Dorset wedge’ silage clamp, since it’s designed mainly for continental-style drive-over clamps that do away with concrete or railway sleeper infrastructure.

But it can also have a role on large conventional clamps, said importer, WM Agri, especially distributing longer-cut grass from forage wagons in thin layers more easily than by shaking it off a buckrake.

Spreading width is up to 6m, regulated by two adjustable rubber skirts and the rotors are driven through a pair of gearboxes capable of handling up to 600hp from big tractors, such as the Claas Xerion, increasingly used as a clamp-filling machine by ASD plant contractors.

Baler choice expands

There’s an even bigger choice of round balers for rolling up hay, grass and straw now that Pöttinger has joined the ranks with its Impress range.

There are fixed and variable chamber models – the former using all rollers and the latter a combination of rollers and belts – and baler-wrapper combinations are also envisaged.

Unusually, the crop flows in over rather than beneath the feed-in rotor, which has a large number of relatively short tines, and this arrangement is said to be effective in encouraging positive bale start-up when conditions are less than ideal.

A centrally-suspended 2.05m pick-up is standard on Master-spec’ versions, which can have a 16-knife crop slicing mechanism; higher-spec’ Pro models have a 2.3m pick-up and 32 knives in a cassette that slides out to one side for maintenance.