With unpredictable weather, even those with moderate amounts of silage and hay to make need an adaptable machine.
Blaney Agri, from Co Antrim, has the answer in its SwathAir machine – think old fashioned wuffler – to address the problem of drying grass in short windows of good weather.
The theory is that it is better to make the silage higher, rather than wider, meaning if it rains there is less surface area exposed, or back to the theory of the hay stack. The SwathAir uses a ‘flick-out’ TM rotor to create the optimised sward structure for air circulation.
This is the only machine on the market that can offer extra sward conditioning to crack up the ligaments in the stalks and assist in removal of the grass’ waxy coating.
Results have shown 75% less effluent comes from wilted grass using the SwathAir than direct cut silage. Baled silage where the Blaney SwathAir has been used on the sward should result in 28% dry matter (DM) compared to 19% DM for untreated grass.
It is available in 2.2m and 2.5m pick up widths.
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