Claas’s Jaguar forage harvester, equipped with patented shredlage maize processing technology, has taken out the coveted Jury Prize at the 2017 Machinery of the Year awards at SIMA.
The shredlage technology has been developed over the last decade by two American dairy nutritionists, Roger Olson and Ross Dale. The patented technology is designed to intensively process corn kernels and long chop stalks.
Claas bought the international distribution rights for the maize processing technology in 2016 for use on its Jaguar forage harvesters.
As a result, the Claas V-Max V20 and V-Classic V24 models use chopping cylinders that produce a chop length between 26 to 30mm, which is up to 10mm longer than conventional silage.
Claas says the shredding technology has already been widely adopted by farmers across North America and parts of Europe
“Two specially-designed Loren Cut rollers that fit into the Claas Multi Crop Cracker processor then smash the kernels to a fraction of their normal size whilst simultaneously shredding the stalks into planks and strings,” the company says.
Claas Group product manager Luke Wheeler says university studies have shown the process can significantly improve milk yield and feed conversion efficiency.
“The intensive conditioning of the kernels and stalks increases the surface area exposed to microbial activity in the rumen, greatly improving the availability and digestibility of the starch,” Wheeler adds.
“In addition, this rumen-friendly structure is believed to improve the health of the herd.
“The need to supplement with other fibre sources, such as straw, can also be reduced or even eliminated, producing even greater savings.”
The SIMA Machinery of the Year awards, which are held biennially in France, are one of Europe’s leading agricultural exhibitions and aim to recognise the world’s best innovations in agricultural technology.