XtraBlatt Issue 02-2017

MENSCHEN INTERNATIONAL
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Yoshio Masaki manages Akan TMR (machinery ring)
with 24 farms involved.
On the slopes of its operational area the Akan TMR almost always harvests using rigid-chassis
forage wagons attached behind the harvester.
amount harvested in the first cut, along
with the maize (50 - 70 t/ha), supplies
sufficient forage for the cows in good
years. Then, we mow only a few grass
fields a second time and discard a proportion
of the harvest.” For the manager, this
is apparently not unusual – even with the
high level of labour and machinery input
invested in the harvest.
A special factor in the Hokkaido forage
harvest is the sometimes very steep fields
farmed by Akan TMR members. Because
trucks cannot run alongside the harvesters
on such slopes, and tractors and
trailers are fairly unusual for this type of
work, special tandem axle wagons are
attached to the rear of the harvesters to
carry the silage. These trailers can also
be used as buffer containers to fill when
there’s a gap in the transport chain. The
“Star 7000” trailers have a capacity of
around 12 m3 with a rigid frame which
enables side-tipping.
For many years the government has promoted the image of home produced food, resulting in campaigns
with posters as in this supermarket where photographs of producers are on show.
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