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Collect chaff for extra benefits
As a gamer, I know that collecting chaff is crucial for farming success. Chaff is the valuable byproduct of processing harvested crops into chopped fragments. Although it may seem like a loss, chaff can be stored in prisms and processed into silage, which can then be sold at a biogas plant for a profit. Plus, if you have a biogas plant, you can also prepare digestate from the silage to fertilize your fields later on.
While you can make silage from grass, chaff ensures a much larger harvest from a single hectare. To collect chaff, you typically need a forage harvester. These machines are expensive and require you to purchase headers, which affect the power of the machine, the size of the header, and the trailer that it will be able to pull. A large and full trailer can slow down the harvesting process, so it’s important to choose the right size.
Forage harvesters don’t have their own storage tank, so you need to attach a trailer to store the chaff. A good option for larger fields is to use loading trailers from the Sugarcane technology category. These trailers allow you to transfer the contents to another trailer by lifting up the basket. However, they do have one downside – they can limit the maneuverability of the forage harvester by restricting the degree of turns.
One cheap way to harvest chaff
If you are undecided or don’t have enough funds, another way to harvest is by using a small harvester attached to a tractor – specifically, the Lacotec LH II which is available in the shop tab. This machine operates in the same way as a full-sized forage harvester, but there are a few things to keep in mind.
Firstly, a very powerful tractor is needed to operate the Lacotec LH II.
You must also mount the trailer to the rear of the tractor or have another vehicle driving beside it. Secondly, it’s important not to rely on employees to operate this type of equipment.
In addition, you will need an extra header which can be any of the smallest headers that are compatible with the Lacotec LH II. And don’t forget to attach a weight to the rear of the tractor with an option to attach a trailer.
However, the work will be slow and maneuvering difficult, so it’s recommended to use a strong and heavy tractor for this task.
Profitability of harvesting chaff
Collecting chaff is a profitable venture, especially with corn. Corn offers a chaff production level of up to 100,000l per hectare. By taking proper care of the field and fertilizing it, you can even double the harvest. The amount of silage produced will be equivalent to the amount of chaff, with a 5% increase possible after using headers for a forage harvester. Silage typically fetches an optimal price of about 300€ (in average economic difficulties), which translates to a profit of 30,000 – 60,000€ per hectare. It’s a great way to earn a lot of money, especially if you have large fields to work with.