Dirty forage is responsible of many problems in EU agriculture sector. Ash contamination causes the reduction of the milk production chain of almost 5% (e.g. minus 400 kg of milk per cow every year), dirty triggers fermentation processes which destroy the forage itself; an average of 2.5% of cattle dye by bacteria, living inside contaminated forage. Raking operation is the most critical inside those ones necessary to produce forage since, due to the direct and continuous contact with the ground, it can deeply affect its cleanliness. Dust and soil present in the forage, together with water, sugars and starches helps the growth of bacteria (Clostridia in particular), thus resulting in less palatable feeds and, in more severe cases, in animal illness that, in few cases, could also be transmitted to humans. Forage quality can be affected by bad weather conditions (e.g. rain) too. Rain occurred during hay making operations reduces the digestibility and develops moulds and bacteria, which cause a decrease in forage quality and, in some cases, lead to the total loss of it. Fast raking means a reduced probability of weather changes. Some different technologies are available today on the market too but no one of them can fully satisfy all the three main requirements of RA-Rake, such as: clean forage, high operating speed and low initial investment. Moreover, thanks to its low price (if compared to the state of the art), it can be purchased in EU markets with limited purchase power thus helping their development.
RA-Rake will improve productivity and quality of diaries, will decrease cattle’s diseases and reduce environmental impact thanks to the reduction of fuel consumption due to its very high efficiency. RA-Rake can be considered as a protective measure to prevent the introduction of contagious diseases transmissible to animals through feed. Since statistics relate also about cases of transmission of diseases from animals to humans, RA-Rake can be considered also as a protective measure to prevent human diseases due to food contamination.
The main objectives of RA-Rake project can be summarized as follows: it will be a double wheel rake, able to obtain neat forage (with a very limited ash contamination), performing at high speed (20 km/h or more) with a low initial investment, thus resulting in a very short payback time.
