Gizmos & Gadgets
Products for use on farms, ranches and feedlots.
This month’s new product features include innovations in hay equipment, portable/permanent waterers, silage inoculants, and a handbook on livestock risk management.
Grower-focused innovations for hay equipment
Claas announces three new products in its North American baler and hay tool lineup — the Variant 500 series round baler, the Quadrant 5300 Evolution series square baler, and the Disco 9300 Trend disc mower — providing growers with new technology and options to increase output and maximize efficiency.
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“Each of these machines [is] designed to provide maximum performance, easy maintenance, and the reliability you expect from Claas,” says Matt Jaynes, product manager. “By listening to the needs of our customers and bringing our brightest thinking into research and development, Claas is providing customers with a truly innovative portfolio of tools in the baler and hay market.”
The product updates include:
- The Variant 500 series round baler will initially include six models in both Roto Cut and Roto Feed formats. Each model has been improved to provide growers with reliable, easy-to-maintain machines with optimized baling density and improved net wrapping.
- The Claas Quadrant square baler is used around the world and is well-known for its high stability, reliability and low operating costs. The Quadrant 5300 series has been given comprehensive technical upgrades, such as a hydraulic drive pickup and an optimized bale chamber. In addition, the Quadrant has received designation as part of the Evolution series.
- The Disco 9300 Trend mower is designed to be a powerful, high-output mower without a conditioner, delivering the highest cutting quality and maximum operational efficiency. The large working width of 29 feet (ft.), 2 inches (in.) or 29 ft., 10 in., the low power requirement of only 150 PTO hp, and the simple operation without a monitor make mowing very easy and efficient.
For more information on each product, visit the company website at www.claas.com.
Portable or permanent mount
The new Genesis Series waterers by Ritchie combine the benefits of automatic watering with the versatility of portable or permanent mounting options. Ideal anywhere tanks or buckets are used, they’ll keep water cool in warm weather and are compatible with heaters when the weather is cold. The construction is strong enough to last for years, and the smooth surface lends itself to easy cleaning.
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The Genesis 1 is a single-sided waterer ideal for stalls, small pens or paddocks and features a capacity up to 30 head of cattle. With a capacity of 60 head, the Genesis 2 is a double-sided waterer suited for fenceline installation, small pens or paddocks.
The Genesis Series GC-2 combines the benefits of automatic watering with the versatility of portable or permanent mounting options. It has a capacity for 100 head of cattle and features a large drain for easy cleaning.
Alltech introduces Egalis high-quality silage inoculants
Alltech introduces Egalis®, a new range of high-quality silage inoculants that maximize nutrient quality, increase forage stability and reduce dry-matter loss to help maintain optimal animal performance. Egalis drives proper fermentation and assists epiphytic bacteria to control the fermentation through the use of specific bacteria.
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“The Egalis range of products brings together decades of expertise in fermentation, utilizing bacteria strains specifically selected by Alltech scientists to maximize nutrient and dry-matter protection,” says Matthew Smith, vice president at Alltech. “Together with our on-farm support teams and range of services, Alltech helps to improve fermentation to produce superior-quality silage, enabling producers to hold onto more of what they grow, from field to feed passage.”
For more information on Egalis, contact your local Alltech sales representative or visit Alltech.com/Egalis.
Handbook on livestock risk management
In partnership with Texas A&M University, Amy Hagerman, OSU Extension specialist for agriculture and food policy at Oklahoma State University, recently co-authored Where’s the Risk? A Livestock Risk Management Handbook with a variety of financial resources for producers.
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“Many livestock producers aren’t aware that certain financial assistance programs exist, so the main motivation behind putting the handbook together was to provide a ready reference that gives them the basic information of what’s available, so they know what questions to ask and who to ask,” Hagerman said. “Then they can go talk to the USDA or their county Extension offices to get the information and programs they need.”
The handbook is a price risk management tool with the following program sections:
- Insurance
- Disaster
- Price risk
- Futures and options
Livestock producers face a variety of risks, and they have had few tools at their disposal for managing risk, says Bart Fischer, co-director of the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University and lead author of the book.
“An example would be what we have been living this fall with the drought. Going into a drought, producers have a few different risks that they know their livestock operation faces,” Hagerman says. “One is the risk of not having enough grass for the operation. What programs are available that can help offset some of the losses they’ve experienced associated with lower grazing? There’s a disaster program associated with that issue when looking back into the summer, and there are programs looking forward into the future for where things might end up.”
The handbook was released by the Agricultural and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M University. For a hard copy, contact Hagerman at amy.hagerman@okstate.edu.
The book was also authored by Justin Benavidez, assistant professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service economist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Amarillo.
