Deere & Company is adding to its lineup of balers with the introduction of the new L341R High-Density Large Square Baler. The new baler creates 3×4 high-density bales. For straw bales, farmers can expect bale weight increases of up to 30% when using the new baler.
At the 2023 Cattle Industry Convention, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, visited with Chase Milem, John Deere marketing manager, about these hay and forage advancements that John Deere has been working on.
On January 10, Milem said John Deere introduced the L341R High-Density Large Square Baler. While John Deere has had a standard density large square baler for a few years now, Milem said they are new to the high-density market.
“Where that is really going to shine is in those ‘springy’ type of crops,” Milem said. “An example I like to use is wheat straw. So, in wheat straw, a standard density baler would produce about a 925 lb. bale. This high density is going to produce an 1100 to 1200 lb. bale.”
Packing more in that single bale, Milem said, means less traveling and retrieval and less compaction on the soil.
“Also, we can load trucks with more weight, so less trucks across the road transporting those bales,” Milem said. “If we think about fuel costs and where it is at right now positively impacting that bottom line for the producer.”
Milem also talked about the John Deere round baler with the high-capacity cutting pick-up option.
“They can size that crop before it is baled and then if you think about tub grinding that feed, that is going to reduce that time you need to grind that if you are,” Milem said. “You might not even need to with that pre-cutting option as well.”
John Deere is also making new Bale Documentation technology available on its large square balers to support greater agronomic and resource management. Using Bale Doc, farmers can track bale weight and moisture, and flow that data into the John Deere Operations Center for analysis and permanent record keeping.
For more information about the L341R, High-Density Large Square Baler, visit JohnDeere.com, or your local John Deere dealer.