In May, the 25,000th large square baler made by AGCO, a 2170XD 4'×3' baler, rolled off the line at its Hesston, Kan., manufacturing facility. "Some of the same things that drove the design and engineering efforts in making that first large square baler are the same things that are driving our industry today," says Steve Koep, vice president of sales for AGCO North America. In 1978, the large square baler became the efficiency solution to challenges of higher input costs, need for more forage production and the economy of moving feed products, he says. Those same factors are now driving other uses for the baler - to capture biomass for energy production by baling wheat straw, cornstalks and emerging biomass crops - and as an efficient way to remove excess residue from crop fields.
展开▼
