Grainswest Tech 2021

Tech 2021 grainswest.com 21 A BETTER BUNCHER Successful farmers always look to improve the efficiency of their operations and the quality of their product. This is the case for Larry Woolliams, owner and operator of Woolliams Farms near Airdrie. When he used a borrowed straw buncher to collect straw and chaff to feed cows and calves, Woolliams found the process drastically reduced his harvest efficiency. After making some modifications, he discovered that the buncher was patented. Fortunately, Allan Jones, who produced the buncher, liked the changes so much that he made Woolliams co-owner and president of his company, AJ Manufacturing. Based on Woolliams’s changes, they produced a prototype of the modified straw buncher in 2019 and took it to market in 2020. “The new version is fully automated with a more streamlined design,” said Woolliams. “This leads to more consistent bunches, greater efficiency at combining time and more cow days per acre. By not running the tractor out to feed your cows with a silage wagon or bale processor, you lessen your carbon footprint and save money, as you don’t have to pay someone to make that run. You also gain soil organic matter as all the original product is left on the field after it moves through the cow. The straw bunches also help by raising moisture levels in the field as they collect snow.” Though Woolliams doesn’t conduct formal customer satisfaction surveys, he is encouraged by what he hears through word of mouth. “There are quite a few guys around me using our Whole Buncher,” he said. “One said it reduces costs and makes it more conducive to maintain or expand the cow herd. Another farmer reported that he is getting almost as many cow days off straw bunches as he does off grass, and that his cows are in good shape. One fellow even told me that he could pay for a fence in a year with the savings he sees from the bunches, so I guess we’re on the right track.” AERATION CUBED Is it possible to simultaneously think outside the box yet inside the bin? If you ask Jeremy Hartsook, owner of HES Manufacturing of Eston, SK, the answer is a resounding yes. His company, which makes hopper bottoms, aeration systems, steel floors and additional bin products, recently received a patent for its cube-shaped aeration product, the Air Cube. “I wanted to make something better than what was out there already, so decided to focus on creating a hopper bottom that was retrofittable,” said Hartsook. “In a hopper cone, everything flows to one point, so when you are emptying a grain bin above that point, you don’t want to obstruct the flow. For the longest time I thought a pyramid shape would be best as triangles are strong, but then I had an ‘out of the box’ moment and decided on a cube shape.” The main strength of the Air Cube’s lightweight design is it can be installed in an existing bin and maintains steady grain flow. As well, by not concentrating the entire flow to one area, it ensures even drying capacity and prevents the overdrying that occurs within certain systems. “That ability to insert it in your current bin makes it much cheaper than other systems where you might have to lift the bin off the cone and put it back on afterwards,” said Hartsook. The impact on the bottom line can be significant. “Often, when growing canola, for example, you must wait for the pods to dry out to be threshed, but if you wait too long, they will shatter. With our design, farmers can avoid leaving their crop out there to overripen and shell out, thereby avoiding lost revenue and reducing wasted crops at the same time.”