Sales manager Glen Malcolm says good numbers of dairy farmers and sharemilkers looked at BvL mixer wagons and silage block cutters on the company’s National Fieldays site.
“The result of the drought and the New Zealand-wide feed shortage has made farmers take a good look at how they handle their silage, both at the stack face and how its fed out,” says Malcolm. Many farmers looked at the BvL Topstar silage block cutter, said to have sold well in months.
Branxholme dairy farmer Nelson Pyper is one such buyer. He is reported as saying that, whereas a traditional silage cutter grabs, digs in and drags feed away from the stack, the BvL Topstar makes a clean downward slice from the top of the stack, preventing air from getting into the remaining silage.
“With this type of action there is no levering action on the loader, resulting in almost zero wastage on the stack face. Plus it’s a lot easier on the loader.”
Central Southland dairy farmer Maurice Dodd agrees, Webbline says.
“The BvL Topstar is a lot easier on the tractor and loader. It causes none of the wear and tear common with the [old] silage grab.
“We used to have to ‘tease’ the silage out of the stack with the loader, moving the loader back and forth to get a decent grab full. Also, now we are getting no re-heating issues at the stack face, which is greatly reducing any losses.”
Malcolm says the BvL brand’s reputation is rising in New Zealand. “BvL was one of the first companies in the mixer market in the 1970s and is now a leading German brand.
“The build quality is exceptional, and more importantly the mixing time is greatly reduced when compared to many other machines. This is due to BvL’s auger design which tends to force a portion of the mix to the bottom of the mixer, resulting in less spillage over the top and a fast consistent mix.”
Southland dairy grazier, Greg Drummond says his BvL V-Mix is “much faster mixing than other mixers I have used. Also I am mixing a high straw ratio and it does this quickly without throwing the straw out of the top of the machine.”
Dipton dairy farmer Louis English took delivery of a new BvL V-Mix 20 at the start of winter.
“Compared to our old method of layering the silage and straw in the feedout wagon, the BvL has improved our operation no-end.”
Malcolm says BvL’s flexible approach allows it to “tailor a mixer to suit any particular farms requirements.
“And BvL now has a new feed management software package that sends live updates back to a computer on what has been fed into the mixer. This is especially important for farmers who have several properties and/or staff, providing them real-time data on what and how much the cows are getting to eat.”
Tel. 0800 932 254
www.webbline.co.nz
