Latest News from Strautmann UK

Forage Wagon Farmer Report - Messrs D.Goldie, Barnford Farm, Dalrymple, Ayrshire.

Richard & William Goldie farm in partnership with their father David looking after 740 acres near Dalrymple in Ayrshire. They have a dairy, beef and sheep enterprise, milking 105 cows and rearing their own followers all told they have a total of around 650 head of cattle spread across 5 farms. Silage is made in two cuts of 180 acres and all the fields are within three quarters of a mile of the 3 silage pits.

The Goldies make their own silage so that they can harvest the grass at the optimum growth stage. Prior to changing to a Strautmann Super Vitesse 2 (5200) forage wagon they used a trailed forager. The forager and silage trailers were about worn out and with the shortage of labour they were finding things difficult. ”We wanted to continue to make our own silage, the forage wagon seemed an obvious choice because of its low labour requirement” says Richard.

Grass is mown with a 9ft mower conditioner left to wilt 24hrs and then rowed up with a twin rotor rake putting 3 into 1. The wagon holds approximately 10 tonnes of compressed grass and takes around five minutes to fill. Richard insists that they are achieving around 40 acres in a stress free ten hour day.

“We have been impressed with the power efficiency of the Strautmann. Our 120hp JD pulls the wagon down the swath at nearly twice the speed (5mph) of the old trailed chopper”. The Strautmann rotor design is the key to this low power demand using a star profiled feed rotor pressing the crop over and through the 37 knives. They are using approximately 40 gallon (180 lt) of diesel compared to the old system using 60 gallons (not including trailer diesel).

Consolidation at the clamp has not been the drama Richard was led to believe, with a load being dropped every 10 to 15 minutes there was just enough time to both layer and roll the pit using the Matbro. Richard said “We noticed that there was less effluent with the longer chop, most of the silage being between one and half to two inches long. Milk butter fats are up to 4.1 compared to 3.9 at this time last year (without adding straw to the diet as we did last year) and the cattle seem to be clearing up better.

I asked Richard what running costs were like and how many time they had sharpened the knives. They haven’t used any parts and after showing Richard where the knives were and how to take them out we found a razor sharp knife which had completed 360 acres without being touched.

When asked to sum up the pros and cons the only part to the system the Goldies cannot understand is why the forage wagon system seems to be such a secret “it’s a genuine two man system, easy on the tractor, low on diesel and we can achieve 40 acres a day. We made the right decision to change to a wagon and found the Strautmann best suited our situation.”

Forage Wagon Contractor Report - Jack Jones, TJ Contracting, Quarry Bank Farm, Wrexham.

“We moved to a Strautmann Giga Vitesse II forage wagon for our silage contracting and still manage to achieve 50 acres a day” says Jack

In 2004 TJ Contracting changed from a 3 man trailed chopper supported by 2 or sometimes 3 tractors and trailers to a 1 man system using a Strautmann Giga Vitesse II (6000). After completing 1650 acres in the first season a second wagon was purchased, together they completed 3200 acres this year working from the 3rd June through to 3rd November.

“To grow the business we had to change the system, it was either self propelled (SP) or the wagon. With labour an on going struggle and fuel prices rising the massive investment of the SP was definitely the wrong direction. Customers were asking for a longer chop length so the wagon system seemed ideal.”

The wagons are driven by 165 & 175 hp tractors achieving up to 8 mph in a 30ft row, outputs of up to 114 acres in a day have been achieved with the two wagons. Although Jack insists that a more realistic 50 acres per day is the normal even in heavy first cut conditions. Each load weighs it at approximately 13 tonne of compressed grass (24% DM) with most of the crop chopped down to one and a half to two inches.

“Running costs on the wagons are extremely low with knives lasting up to 300 acres before they need sharpening or turning which is due to the “Trip” protection system. We have broken odd knives and pickup tines as you would expect but overall the wagon is costing pennies per acre to run rather than the pounds you would expect with the Self Propelled option”

Silage quality has been good with many customers reporting improved cattle performance. Consolidation is vital part of the wagon system and Jack ensures that customers spend plenty of time on the pit as it pays in the final silage quality”

To conclude I asked Jack to sum up the pros and cons of their Strautmann. ”We have a few complaints from customers without shear grabs who insists the pit face looks untidy and initially took more effort to consolidate. But the advantages of the system more than compensate for this with improved quality, better fodder uptake and cheaper silage. All in all the system has enabled us to grow our business without the added hassle of increasing labour and burning expensive fuel”.