Putting on the Pressure

Crop Compaction Saves on Storage Space — Lucerne Farms has maximized storage space, increased inventory control capabilities, and minimized labor costs through the use of a fully-automated processing system.

Maine-based Lucerne Farms is a full-service producer and marketer of premium forage feed for the equine industry. At their 3,200-acre farm in the northern town of Fort Fairfield, Lucerne produces its entire product line from start to finish — from planting, growing, and harvesting the crops, to processing and mixing the materials, to packaging the final product for distribution.

While planting and harvesting are seasonal activities, crop mixing and packaging are on-going throughout the year. With a short, 10-week growing season, Lucerne needs to anticipate customer demand during the non-growing seasons and provide enough storage space to accommodate harvested crops for up to ten months. With these inherent challenges, the company set out to implement a processing system that would allow them to maximize their existing storage space, while minimizing labor costs.

After a period of trial and error, the end-result is a fully-automated processing system that has allowed Lucerne to successfully produce 'value-added' forage feed, sold to distributors in 21 states on the East Coast. The company's Dengie® and Seminole® product lines are marketed as one of the most nutritional forage feeds available to horse owners, even helping horses with respiratory and other health problems.

Phase One: A Fully-Automated Production Process

The first phase in production of Lucerne's forage feed involves the processing of hay and alfalfa crops in preparation for final mixing and packaging. Harvested crops are chopped and brought into the processing facility wet. Materials are then sent through a Rader Thompson dehydrator, also simply referred to as a dryer. After the dried material is cooled, it is conveyed by an air system to a cyclone which filters out much of the dust. The material then settles out onto another conveyor and is carried to an extra large, custom-built hopper that feeds the forage into an American Baler PAC 4029 baler. The baler automatically senses when the hopper is full and begins the baling cycle. The end result is a bale with densities of up to 24 lbs/cu ft that is automatically wire-tied and ready for storage.

"The entire system has to work together in order to get the desired outcome," says George James, Lucerne's Owner and General Manager. "The purchase of the baler from American Baler in July 2001 was really the turning point for our operation. We've been able to reduce storage space by as much as 300%, implement increased quality control initiatives, and minimize labor costs."

Don Hodgkins of Alexander Industrial Technologies (Londonderry, N.H.) worked with James on the project. He adds, "American Baler's PAC 4029 baler has a larger feed opening (40" x 27.5") as well as a large volumetric capacity so it can keep up with Lucerne's current level of production as well as anticipated future needs."

For this particular set-up, James and his staff fabricated an extra large hopper to sit over the baler feed opening, allowing dehydrated crop to accumulate while bales are being processed. James has been very pleased with the result. He says, "The material really whistles through there. Timing-wise, the dryer and the baler have been a perfect match, allowing us to process as many as 400 bales in a day's time. Our processing machinery has been able to keep up with the demand and work very well for us."

Another custom design in Lucerne's production process is the installation of a hood with a dust extractor, placed directly over the baler. Due to the drying procedure involved, the process inherently creates a tremendous amount of dust. With the dust extractor in place, dust is run through a filter and funneled outside, allowing for a clean, dust-free work environment.

Phase Two: Mixing and Packaging

After the material is baled, a clamp forklift is used to carry the bales to a nearby 33,000 sq. ft. storage building, where the bales await mixing and packaging — the final steps in the process.

While planting and harvesting are seasonal, mixing and packaging of the final product is a continuous process throughout the year. "The bales would last forever," says James, "But we only store them from the summer until the next growing season. By the time spring rolls around, we're getting down to where there aren't many bales left."

Lucerne produces a variety of products, including an all-alfalfa product, an all-timothy hay product, and blends of the two. For those products that require it, Lucerne blends the forage by taking a bale of alfalfa and a bale of hay, cutting the wires, and blending the materials in a large blender. "For this phase of the process, the PAC baler's compaction force is perfect," James adds. "If there were any more compaction, we wouldn't be able to get the bales apart. Any less, and they wouldn't stay together for storage."

After mixing the forage crops together, the hay and alfalfa are blended with molasses and emptied into a heavy plastic bag. The final product is a plastic-wrapped, 40-pound bag of forage feed, ready for shipment to distributors.

Advantages of baling

Lucerne uses the baler solely to maximize their existing storage space. From late June to early Sept, the baler runs constantly — 24 hours a day, 6 days a week — to keep up with crop harvesting. All bales produced during that time need to be stored and readily available for production based on product demand. Lucerne has found that baling the crops has saved a vast amount of storage space, in addition to the capital expenditures required for new storage facilities.

"If we just stored the crops loose in piles, our storage buildings could handle about 1,000 tons," James says. "Now in the same space, using the American Baler PAC baler, we can store 3,000 tons of material." The cost to build a 33,000 sq. ft. storage building is estimated near $400,000. James says, "Our baler has essentially paid for that space. We didn't need to keep building additional storage facilities to store the crops."

Another advantage of the baler is inventory control. James explains, "I know where bales are placed in the storage buildings, what fields they came from and when they were processed. We run tests on the crops to verify protein levels. If you just put hay in a pile, you couldn't keep track of those details."

Lucerne has also been able to minimize labor costs through the use of this automated system. With the current system, only two operators are required — one to empty the crops onto the first conveyor, and another to transport the finished bales to the storage facility.

Through the use of the baler and other processing equipment, Lucerne has also been able to branch out into other industries. The company recently expanded into the lawn and garden industry by introducing a straw mulch product for use in landscaping projects.

Looking Ahead

When James first contacted American Baler, they were not familiar with this particular application for their product. Upon further explanation and research, the company's engineers decided to take on the Lucerne project. "Having all the information in hand, American Baler engineers were able to guarantee that they could make it work," James says. "And they certainly did. Our operation has come a long way in a short time period, thanks to the speed and reliability of our equipment."

"Our product is not just hay in a bag," James concludes. "There's a lot more to it. In agriculture, you're talking about a value-added commodity. In our case, we're taking the basic commodities of hay and alfalfa and adding value for our customers. American Baler has helped us achieve that objective. We've tried other balers and have found no other products that work as well for our operation."
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