Recent innovations in farm equipment, from cutting to forage distribution

摘要

In response to the increase in farm area coupled with a constancy of the labour force, farmers try to improve the efficiency of their harvesting and forage distribution equipment. There seems now to exist interesting new machinery, for cutting and herbage conditioning, for baling and wrapping, for distribution and handling. As regards hay making (cutting, tedding, windrow laying), the improvement in the equipment consists in a constant increase in working width and speed of advancement. Conditioning with the formation of a mat may be of interest for silage making. Many improvements have taken place in the wrapping technique: plastic sheets of 75 cm, continuous wrapping of cubic and round bales. There is an increasing use of electronics: sensors for a better control of the work and for soil-tool connections, for the management of binding by the balers, remote controls on the wrappers, etc. The silage and bedding choppers and the mixed-feed waggons have also been improved. This highly efficient equipment is however expensive, and is thus rather intended for groups of farmers and companies.