New McHale terra drive axle option
Well-known for its Fusion baler wrapper combination, Irish manufacturer McHale has launched an interesting option at the recent Irish Ploughing Match.
Dominant in the New Zealand baler/wrapper combi market, the McHale Fusion Series distributed by Power Farming Wholesale has been popular with contractors and large-scale farmers for many years.
The 2019 series 3+ Film on Film machines are improved in several ways that should ensure the Fusion brand continues to dominate.
Up front, above the grass pick-up, a newly designed cradle helps transition heavy rolls of net wrap or film from the ground to the application mechanism.
In operation, the cradle is pulled out from its horizontal stowage position then pivots to a vertical position.
Once the roll is loaded the cradle is lifted back to the horizontal position with the aid of a gas strut then pushed in to install the roll.
The 2019 series 3+ Film on Film machines are also fitted with a moisture meter and bale weighing system.
The moisture meter uses two probes in the bale chamber to measure conductivity, then continuously displays a live bale moisture feed on the machine’s control monitor. The system can also show average moisture content for individual jobs, paddocks or customers.
The bale weighing system displays individual bale weights following the bale’s weighing as it passes across pressure transducers housed in the rear tip-off arm.
As with the moisture meter system, readings can be displayed for average bale weights at the job/field and customer level.
For proof of production, machines are fitted with printers to deliver a report of the completed job.
This can be configured to carry data on bale quantity, wrapped or not wrapped, indication if film has been used, chopped or un-chopped, average bale weight, average moisture content and time taken to complete the job.
The system also allows the addition of notes to highlight, say, weather condition or crop varieties.
Meat co-operative, Alliance has met with a group of farmer shareholders, who oppose the sale of a controlling stake in the co-op to Irish company Dawn Meats.
Rollovers of quad bikes or ATVs towing calf milk trailers have typically prompted a Safety Alert from Safer Farms, the industry-led organisation dedicated to fostering a safer farming culture across New Zealand.
The Government has announced it has invested $8 million in lower methane dairy genetics research.
A group of Kiwi farmers are urging Alliance farmer-shareholders to vote against a deal that would see the red meat co-operative sell approximately $270 million in shares to Ireland's Dawn Meats.
In a few hundred words it's impossible to adequately describe the outstanding contribution that James Brendan Bolger made to New Zealand since he first entered politics in 1972.
Dawn Meats is set to increase its proposed investment in Alliance Group by up to $25 million following stronger than forecast year-end results by Alliance.