Development of the Roll Baler for Chopped Materials

This is a self review about the development of a roll baler for chopped material that can form chopped maize into a roll bale and a bale wrapper that can load and wrap fragile roll bales. These machines were developed for family managed dairy farms in Honshu district to reduce heavy labor and to minimize the work force in maize harvesting. Through the development and examination of the test machines, we found some points that need improvement for practical use. A practical baler and wrapper were developed based on the test machines. Practical tests evaluated the machines at 10 different fields throughout Japan. In these tests, 2 or 3 workers could manage almost all work from harvesting to wrapping, and the silage had good fermentation qualities and could be stored satisfactorily for a long time. These machines have been on the market since 2004. Subsequently, the technology obtained through the development of these machines could be applied for large-scale dairy farmers or contractors.