Spelle, June 2013 – The new Krone high-performance conditioner with steel V-shaped tines ensures significantly faster wilting, according to the results of a test just published by the German Agricultural Society (DLG – Deutsche Landwirtschafts Gesellschaft). An independent panel of judges compared the new Krone EasyCut R 320 CV mower with its predecessor model, the EasyCut 320 CV-Q. The test runs on permanent grassland and mixed grass/clover were performed in parallel; immediately after each measured run, single samples were taken from the crop and weighed. Within 24 hours, three samples were taken from each in order to document and evaluate the drying process.

After a 24-hour wilting period, significant differences were apparent. The permanent grassland sample produced by the EasyCut R 320 CV with its new high-performance conditioner was shown to have 6.4 percent higher dry matter content than its predecessor with standard steel-tine conditioner. The crop which had been mown by the EasyCut 320 CV-Q had a dry matter content of 38.3 percent after 24 hours. By contrast, the crop that was produced with the new high-performance conditioner reached this same level after only 17 hours, i.e. seven hours earlier. In practice, this would save almost a whole day, thus making one-day silage a real possibility. The new steel-tine intensive conditioner was also able to accelerate the drying process in clover sward, the difference here being 4.8 percent.

In conclusion, the DLG Fokus test confirmed that wilting time is significantly reduced by the use of the new high-performance conditioner on the EasyCut R 320 CV. The less time the silage is left in the field, the greater its energy density and the lower the respiratory losses in the feed. In addition, shorter drying times minimise the risk of adverse weather during the frequently restricted windows of opportunity for gathering in the feed.