The timing of the first cut in grassland farming coincides with the fawning season of roe deer and other wild animals. Due to their natural reflex to seek cover, fawns do not run away from danger. This instinctive behaviour makes it especially difficult to spot animals hiding in the grass. It happens over and over again that animals are seriously injured or even killed during mowing. Estimates point to around 100,000 fawns being mown down every year in Germany alone. This must be avoided at all costs.
Livestock also endangered
If the carcass of a wild animal ends up in the clamp, it will decompose and contaminate the forage. Under anaerobic conditions, bacteria of the species Clostridium botulinum produce the neurotoxin botulinum.
Feeding silage contaminated in this way can expose cattle, sheep, horses and poultry to botulism. This disease usually causes death within 1 to 3 days due to respiratory paralysis.
Healthy, high yield livestock provide the basis for the economic success of your farm. The quality of your forage plays a central role in achieving this.
That is why it is worth improving the quality of the forage as far as possible at every stage of the process. And that begins with mowing a clean, high-quality basic ration. You benefit from:
Healthy cattle
Reduced veterinary costs
Consistent milk yield
High product quality (milk quality, meat quality, etc. )
At PÖTTINGER we have taken up these challenges and developed an automatic assistance system for detecting animals.
SENSOSAFE
A sensor bar mounted in front of the mower helps you identify wild animals in the crop. This saves them from getting caught by the mower and prevents carcasses contaminating your forage. As a result this avoids the risk of your cattle contracting life threatening diseases such as botulism.
SENSOSAFE is available in three different versions.
1 SENSOSAFE as an option on the ALPHA MOTION front mower
2 SENSOSAFE 300 as a standalone system for mowers up to approx. 3 m
3 SENSOSAFE 1000 as a standalone system for mower combinations up to 10 m
Thomas Neudorfer is a farmer and contractor in the Mühlviertel region of Upper Austria. He has been using SENSOSAFE on an ALPHA MOTION front mower and SENSOSAFE 300 as prototypes since spring 2020 and they have reliably detected innumerable hares, pheasants and fawns.
"If my customers are happy, then I'm happy. That is why I am always open to new technologies that help me to improve the quality of the service I offer. SENSOSAFE gives me three benefits that I can pass on directly to my customers. Firstly, I prevent unnecessary animal suffering. Secondly, I prevent animal carcasses from contaminating the silage. And thirdly, I can start mowing at the drop of a hat without having to search the fields first."
Thomas Neudorfer is a farmer and contractor in Peilstein, Upper Austria.