New Holland Agriculture has won the Gold medal at the 2021 Edison Awards for the Loop Master knotting technology featured on its BigBaler 1290 High Density and BigBaler PLUS range
The annual award competition recognises excellence in new product and service development, marketing, human-centred design and innovation. Winners are selected based on four criteria: Concept, Value, Delivery and Impact.
Carlo Lambro, New Holland Brand president, said, “We are honoured to receive this recognition for our patented Loop Master technology, which brings significant cost and environmental benefits to our customers. By recognising that bale quality is key to delivering maximum productivity and minimum waste, over the years our team has been focusing its resources on how to enhance these two aspects further, while making baling even more sustainable.”
Felix Ramuenke, global product manager for Large Square Balers, said, “The Loop Master technology takes the best from the two existing knotting technologies and combines them to provide a solution that is an industry first. This unique solution has attracted great interest from industry experts and farmers, and has been very well received by customers.”
The Loop Master technology has received multiple industry awards in recognition of its unique solution. It combines the concepts of the two existing knotting technologies, the ‘loop’ knotter and the double knotter. On the one hand, it eliminates the loose twine ends generated by double knot technology, which are left behind in the field, representing a cost for farmers, a hazard to livestock which consume baled forage, and contaminate the environment. On the other, the Loop Master solution adopts the higher tensile strength of the ‘loop’ knotter, increasing it by 26%. This means that lower grade twine can be used and bales are more resistant to handling.
The advantages of the Loop Master technology are clear: by eliminating offcuts, about 50kg or 6km of twine is saved over a 10,000 bale season, resulting in cost and environmental benefits. The higher tensile strength together with the high compression system of the new baler results in denser bales, optimising truck transport with more tonnage per load. This means transporting fewer loads, further reducing the impact on the environment.