Market round-up – mounted straw shredders: Chop chop

Bale shredders can offer a versatile tool for chopping hay and silage for a mixer wagon as well as preparing straw for bedding, and it’s useful to consider what the machine will be used for most when comparing different designs.

Discs that gently pull the straw apart will produce a longer end product than those that use a rotor or turbine with knives to break it up; passing the material from the knives to a screen can give an even shorter, more consistent chop suitable for poultry bedding or as an ingredient in a TMR mix.

“Straw is used less and less for bedding cattle so we see reduced demand for machines designed to handle straw only,” comments Richard Burman, marketing director of longstanding manufacturer, Kidd Farm Machinery. “However, they are increasingly popular for bedding down sheep and goats.” Many machines are designed to handle both round and square bales, increasing versatility. French manufacturer Lucas G specialises in straw spreading and livestock feeding machinery and attachments. Sales manager, Jan Soukenka suggests that there has been an increase in the demand of mounted bedders in the UK driven by factors such as the shortage of available staff or machinery on farm and the need to complete the bedding job quickly using one operator and one machine. Not all livestock farms