Alfalfa hay buyers and sellers now have a way to know the relative feed value (RFV) of every bale. A new on-baler system calculates and records RFV as each bale is made, and can assign that value by attaching an RFID tag to the bale’s string.
Harvest Tec has developed the new precision measurement system. The company says hay producers who tested the new system believe it will potentially revolutionize the way RFV is measured and recorded.
The significance of this development stems from the extreme variation found in alfalfa RFV. Values can range from lows of 100 points to over 250, affected by several factors including plant variety, maturity at cutting, or any of several handling and harvesting conditions. Consequently, the monetary value of the hay varies greatly, meaning that the seller could be paid less than his hay is worth, or the buyer may be paying more than its actual value. The new Harvest Tec system adds the element of fairness to those transactions.
Alfalfa’s wide swings in RFV quality also affect the nutrient level in cattle rations. Having an accurate RFV measurement is critical to properly balance the amount of protein and energy needed for achieving production and profitability goals. Don Leonard of Brush, Colorado is one of several hay producers who tested the new system. Leonard raises 24 pivots of alfalfa, harvesting with three 3x4 balers. On the merits of knowing the calculated RFV of each bale, he states, “As hay producers, we need to step up to make a better product for our customers, especially for the dairy industry. We need to deliver hay with more consistent RFV levels, instead of varying as much as 30 to 40 points from bale to bale.”
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For alfalfa producers and buyers, the standard practice for gaining an indication of the hay’s quality is through random bale core sampling. It’s commonly understood that two core samples taken from the same bale or windrow can be different, and especially for samples taken from various parts of a field. Two bales made minutes apart can vary twenty to thirty points in RFV.
Bales with greater density contain more leaves. That’s because leaves pack much better than stems. A bale with high leaf content has higher feed value and, consequently, greater density. The leaf to stem ratio can be influenced by several factors. Leaves are flat, and compress nicely, adding weight to the bale. Bales with more stems will always weigh less. Stems are round and stiff, and do not pack as well.
Harvest Tec’s innovative system consistently calculates the RFV of each bale by measuring the key factors of moisture, bale weight and density. From those measured variables, the Harvest Tec system can accurately determine the RFV of the bale.
How does it work?
The producer takes a hay sample just before or after the field is cut, and gets a lab RFV analysis. That value is entered into the Harvest Tec system when baling begins. As the baler operates, Harvest Tec’s dual star wheel sensors take hay moisture readings 96 times every 3 seconds to achieve moisture measurement of plus or minus one percent accuracy.
Next, the baler’s scale provides bale weight accuracy within 2 percentage points. From the moisture and weight data, the Harvest Tec system calculates the dry matter density and the relative feed value of each individual bale.
The new system was tested on 8 farms across 6 different states, with more than 3,000 bales individually cored and analyzed. The research was done with baling in different temperatures, varieties and cuttings. It included both irrigated and non-irrigated fields, along with different makes of balers and bale sizes. The comparative results of the extensive testing demonstrated that the values measured by the Harvest Tec RFV calculator system closely follow the values from the lab coring analysis.
During the baling process, the new system’s processor displays the RFV on the monitor screen, and writes each bale’s RFV and TDN to a job record that can later be printed out. It also determines average values for that job or field.
The best way to record and utilize these precision RFV values is to apply an electronically readable tag to each bale. Harvest Tec’s bale “tagger” applies a vinyl tag containing an RFID chip to the twine on the bale. The tagger system writes valuable information to the tag including bale moisture, weight and relative feed value. It also records bale number, the time the bale was made, field location, and more.
The tag’s recorded data can be read back using either a hand held scanner or one that mounts directly to bale handling machines. Some farms using the system scan the bales as they come out of the field, sorting them by RFV into low, medium and high quality groups. Sorting can also be done when the hay is stacked for feeding or as a truck is loaded. This way, hay producers and sellers can give the buyer precisely the hay quality he wants. Harvest Tec’s portal scanner will scan entire loads as the truck passes under it, reading the data directly into a computer. This makes it easy to sort bale loads, and for keeping track of inventory.
Harvest Tec’s new on-baler RFV calculator system is available through major large square baler manufacturers. For more information, visit www.harvesttec.com or call (800) 635-7468.
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