OUTLOOK, Sask. – Bill Young wants to help producers make hay one day faster.
Kuhn Farm Machinery’s regional manager for Western Canada attended a field demonstration at the Canada-Saskatchewan Crop Diversification Centre in Outlook in July to talk about his company’s trailed mower conditioner and rotary rake.
He was hoping to persuade farmers to try a system that is being used on the Prairies, but not yet in Saskatchewan.
During the demonstration, the 16 foot wide Alterna 500 mower, which requires a three-point hitch, travelled eight km-h and left behind dual rows of swathed alfalfa.
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“It leaves two windrows so it dries faster,” he said of the machine that can travel up to 16 km-h in good field conditions. It folds to eight feet for transport.
Young said producers can easily adjust the system to make it more or less aggressive in a hay field.
Kuhn next demonstrated its power take-off driven single rotor 4.1 metre rake. Young said it works well for hay because material is handled only once.
Typically wheel rakes handle hay up to six times, run into dirt and deposit debris into the windrows.
“We just touch the ground,” he said, which produces more palatable feed for livestock.
“Cows will eat more hay if dirt’s not in it,” Young said. “It’s like us having salad with sand in it.”
The machine can be used to rake hay right after it’s cut. A side panel can be adjusted to make wider windrows if desired. The rotary rake is capable of moving up to 91/2 km-h in fields and sells for about $9,700.
Jack Ritchie, who produces green feed and hay and raises livestock near Zealandia, Sask., was one of the farmers who watched the demonstration.
While he rarely uses a rake, the mower caught his eye because of its speed and conditioning capabilities.
“The way it is conditioning seems like it will speed up time between cutting and baling,” he said.
“If it can do that then it’s worth something.”
Ritchie said the list price at $58,600 was probably $20,000 more than older style machines sold by other companies.
“You’d have to think hard on it,” he said. “You got to be careful these days whatever you do. There’s no extra money to fool around very much.”
