Equipment

Editor’s note:  This article is geared toward systems manufactured by Dohrmann Enterprises, Inc., including the DE-100, DE-55, DE-45, DE-25, or DE-9, DE-8, DE-7 and DE-6.

By Dwain Ewald, Vita Plus Gagetown customer service
Whether it’s a pressure pump applicator on the bailer or at the silo blower, cleanliness is one of the first things I always check before use.  You don’t want to go through all the steps of cleaning and calibrating the system to find out the tips and filters are plugged with sediment and debris still in the tank.

When harvest season gets rolling, you don’t want an equipment issue to bring your operation to a halt in the middle of the field.  At the Vita Plus Custom Harvester Meeting 2017, Don Seltzner and Neal Sennhenn, Mid-State Equipment, said a preseason check and routine maintenance will help prevent many common machinery issues and keep the wheels turning during harvest.

“Technology doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated,” said Mitch Fiene.  “It should make you more efficient at what you do.”

During their presentation at the Vita Plus Custom Harvester Meeting, Mitch shared some of the tools he and his cousin, Zach Fiene, are developing at their company, DMZ Aerial.

Whether you like it or not, mobile devices are a part of our everyday lives.  Selecting the right mobile device can help custom harvesters manage their businesses efficiently.  During his Vita Plus Custom Harvester Meeting presentation, Terry Seubert, Vita Plus IT services development coordinator, outlined several important things to consider when buying a new mobile device.

When you’re facing tight harvest windows and a lot of fields to chop, putting up the highest quality forages is no small task.  As John Brantsen, Vita Plus dairy specialist, discussed during his session at the Vita Plus Custom Harvester Meeting, improving forage quality can significantly impact profitability.

The space age has come to the farm.  Digital imagery – from satellites, drones and other devices – is becoming more readily available and easily accessible with each day.

Editor’s note:  In addition to multiple customer service responsibilities at Vita Plus Gagetown in Gagetown, Michigan, Dwain Ewald takes the lead on maintenance services for customers’ forage inoculant applicators. 

By Dwain Ewald, Vita Plus Gagetown customer service
With cold temperatures and piles of snow on the ground, it’s sometimes hard to think about and prepare for the upcoming forage season.  However, doing a little maintenance now can save a lot of time when things get rolling in the spring.  In this article, I will focus on the maintenance of the DE-1000 and DE-1008.5 forage inoculant applicator units manufactured by Dohrmann Enterprises, Inc.  Maintenance steps are similar for both machines.

By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist
When Shredlage^® was introduced in 2008, it caused quite a stir among dairy producers, nutritionists, custom chopper operators, equipment manufacturers and university researchers. 

By John Brantsen, Vita Plus dairy specialist
The Fourth of July has come and gone, corn has started to tassel, and we are officially in the heart of summer. This means the always-exciting corn silage season in the Midwest is less than two months away!  Although this is a great time for producers to slow down, and maybe take a vacation while the corn crop continues its march toward maturity, you should not forget to properly prepare the equipment for harvest and storage of this year’s corn silage.

A dumpster on a dairy farm wouldn’t normally turn heads, but a new type of dumpster is doing that very thing.

This dumpster’s sole purpose is to recycle used ag and silage plastics. Revolution Plastics, headquartered in Stuttgard, Arkansas, offers producers an environmentally friendly option to dispose of the plastics on their farms.

Mark Case is a Vita Plus dairy specialist in western Michigan and Dwain Ewald is a customer service specialist with Vita Plus Gagetown. Case and Ewald work closely with producers to troubleshoot and maintain their inoculant applicators and also support their other forage needs.

By Jon Urness, Vita Plus national forage specialist
Our Silostop^® Gravelbags are not new and they aren’t improved, but sometimes it’s simply worthwhile to draw attention to a product that is often overlooked in the field.