Topwrap 2000 Competition Winner

16 July 2009

South West farmers and contractors can make significant cost savings to bale wrapping this season by investing in the first pre-stretched film available in the UK and Ireland that can be used on a conventional wrapper without changes to gears or settings. This film is stretched during manufacture as well as on the wrapper, which means it clings even more tightly to the bale and gives an even better seal.

Called Volac Topwrap 2000, each 2,000m roll carries 33% more plastic but weighs the same as a 1,500m roll. One roll will wrap up to 10 more bales than a roll of traditional film. So with fewer roll changes, reduced time spent in roll and waste handling, lower logistic costs together with the extra output, a 10% cost saving over conventional film can be made.

For Somerset based contractor, Sam Coles, who runs a contracting business from his family’s dairy enterprise at West Northcott Farm, Ashbrittle, Wellington, Topwrap 2000 is starting to improve his baling operation’s efficiency and overall output, which adds up to 6,000 big bales a year. “We row up, bale and wrap up at the stack up to 300 big bales a day using a McHale Fusion and previously we would have to stop around seven times to reload with new rolls of conventional wrap.

However, I just happened to win a pallet of Topwrap 2000 in a Volac prize draw at Grassland South West and we’re finding the new film is going a lot further and has reduced the number of roll changes to five,” he explains.

“The subsequent time savings getting and on and off the tractor are considerable; it means we’ve been able to step up hourly throughput from 35 to 36 bales to between 40 and 45, and we are also benefiting from fewer hours spent on the machine, the reduced running costs and so on. This wrap also has the advantage that it uses the same gears as conventional film, unlike previous pre-stretch film we’ve used. We’ve also found it is just as strong as conventional films and it goes on just as well,” says Sam.

 He adds: “While tractors and wrappers are becoming more efficient, it’s equally important the film comes up to scratch too if we really are going to do a better, faster and more efficient job. This new pre-stretch ticks all the boxes as far as making general improvements are concerned, and we trust the proof of the pudding will be in the eating when we start to feed out the bales.”

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