With 70% of farmers short on fodder facing into the winter, many are looking at alternative feed items such as beet, potatoes and other root crops. In some cases, farmers are looking for whatever can be sourced to extend silage reserves without using a diet feeder.

This was a topic on both farmers’ and manufacturers’ minds at the Ploughing, with a variety of feeding buckets on display getting a lot of interest. These are loader or three-point linkage-mounted buckets with an auger in the base of them, allowing the user to scoop feed as they would with a standard bucket.

The buckets have a mounted hydraulic motor to rotate the auger.

ProDig Chop-N-Feed bucket

ProDig offers a beet and meal feeding bucket to suit telehandlers and tractor loaders, as well as tractor three-point linkage.

The Chop-N-Feed bucket is a versatile unit which includes a heavy-duty auger for both chopping and feeding out via a hydraulic motor.

This eliminates the need for a PTO drive. Features of this bucket include the smart mounting position of the hydraulic motor to the rear of the bucket, allowing for use in close proximity to walls. The bucket has a bolt-on hitch, meaning it can be mounted off centre.

Other features include a hardened cutting edge and a chopping rate of four minutes per cubic metre.

Prices on these buckets vary due to size and capacity but a typical 600kg bucket starts from €4,420 including VAT.

See www.prodigattachments.com

Irish Engineering Products (IEP)

IEP has a number of models when it comes to feed buckets, one of which is called the Combo King designed more so for beet but will also feed meal, somewhat similar to the ProDig.

Its second model is the IEP Ultra-M – the ultimate maize and meal feeding bucket, which caters for wet and dry rations, including precision-chopped grass silage. This bucket features a hydraulic close-off slide, so that farmers can control the flow out of the bucket. IEP also offers a separate model bucket for meal feeding only. All models of buckets come in a range of sizes typically 300kg upwards. A standard 600kg bucket comes in at a price of €4,200 including VAT. For more, see irishengineeringproducts.ie