A testimonial from Pascal Bordeau, Editor of the 'Machinery' section of ENTRAID, official newspaper of the farmers association in France

Today, there is a very wide choice of types of bale-wrapper. It depends on the number of people available for the site, the fodder storage mode, the number of bales to be wrapped each year, and the livestock farmer's choice concerning mechanization.

When bale-wrapping arrived in France, this technique was appreciated for its simplicity compared with harvesting silage. A farmer can carry out the various stages on his own: pressing, wrapping and transport of the bales. Nevertheless, this approach proved limited in terms of hourly output. That is why we have seen self-help groups set up bale wrapping with several specialized operators, in order to carry out the stages of harvesting, pressing and storing at the same time, using stationary bale-wrappers. Others have chosen continuous bale-wrapping, with more expensive machines that allow use of less plastic film. This technique can increase the speed of the production, but involves constraints that not all farmers find acceptable (suitable storage site, rate of utilization of the fodder). For those who are prepared to settle for single-bale wrapping, but are looking for simpler techniques, the choice has to be made of dividing up the work. First of all, they press and then wrap on site, with a towed machine combined with a loader. This picks up the bales placed on the ground by the press. Then they have a certain amount of time to remove the wrapped bales from the site and move them to their final storage site. The final stage in the "industrialization" consists of using combined press and bale-wrappers: the same pairing of tractor and operator presses and wraps the bales in a single operation. Nevertheless, the size of the investment required for this type of machine means that this technique is reserved for more intensive use and situations where labour cost is a decision-making criterion.

A livestock farmer who wishes to adopt bale-wrapping these days faces choices. If he wants to invest in his own harvesting equipment, he will not be able to afford the same level of investment if he only wraps a few tens of bales per year as if he wraps several hundred. There is a difference here between bale-wrapping as an additional harvesting method, and bale-wrapping as a main technique. But a livestock farmer is rarely alone in his environment. He could also call in an external contractor, an agricultural work company or a machinery syndicate, which will handle the site. He can also share the investment in a bale-wrapper with neighbours, in the form of co-ownership or a machinery syndicate, and carry out the work himself, which would cut the costs of mechanization. Finally, it is obvious that the harvesting cost deemed acceptable by a livestock farmer can vary according to the value of the fodder under consideration. The same is not true of young grass destined for producing dairy cows and coarser fodder for maintenance rations.

It can be seen that, for a given volume of activity, several options are available, depending on the financial capacity of the farmer, his labour constraints (availability, competition with other work, etc.), and his preferences in terms of organization (independence at all costs or working in self-help groups). Saving time and cutting costs are the main trends in the development of agricultural practices today. They will certainly influence the way that we look at bale-wrapping. In terms of the costs connected with bale-wrapping, it should be pointed out that the cost of the machine and that of the plastic film are of the same order. So it is these two factors that require attention, but without making sacrifices in terms of quality, because the nutritional value of the fodder depends on it.

---------------

Read more on equipment trends and developments

< back