Steer clear of articulated alternatives.

The EDA awards are based on results from the annual EDA Dealer-Manufacturer Relations Survey, which received input from 2,500 individual dealer contacts. Within the survey, manufacturers were classified in one of four different categories: Full-Line, Short-Line, Tractor and Outdoor Power Equipment.

Equipment dealers cast their votes on important business categories including product quality, product availability, technical support, parts availability, quality, return policy, communication, warranty and marketing/advertising support. The manufacturers collected a total of 9,087 ratings from all 50 U.S. states and 10 Canadian provinces.

“It’s an extreme honor to be recognized by our dealers with the 2019 Dealer’s Choice Award,” said Leif Magnusson, President of CLAAS Global Sales. “It has always been our goal to provide a more reliable and efficient harvest for farmers using our full line of premium equipment, and we absolutely could not do that without the constant support and expertise of our dealers. I am also proud and thankful of the employees at CLAAS of America who worked fervently to support our dealers and customers. They are the ones who make this award possible.”

The full line of CLAAS equipment features LEXION combines, self-propelled JAGUAR forage harvesters and XERION tractors, as well as a wide range of balers and hay tools, all created to increase operational efficiency and provide higher throughput.

As one of the largest equipment manufacturers in the world, CLAAS is committed to growing its dealer presence and support in addition to offering first-class support and technology for the growers of the United States and Canada.

For more information about CLAAS, visit the company’s website at www.claas.com.

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The ceremony was a featured event at the Growing Nebraska Skilled Workforce Conference at CLAAS of America and featured a delegation of government, education and business leaders who discussed new solutions for solving the skilled workforce shortage.

CLAAS and Graepel Manufacturing, two German companies with North America operations based in Omaha, became the first two high-tech manufacturers in the state to sign on and commit funds for the three-year ICATT Apprenticeship, a dual study program promoted through the German American Chambers of Commerce. The ICATT Apprenticeship Program helps manufacturers develop a pipeline of skilled talent and train the workforce they need to grow through its globally recognized program.The Growing Nebraska event featured Gov. Ricketts; John Albin, Nebraska Department of Labor Commissioner; Mark Tomkins, president and CEO of the German American Chambers of Commerce of the Midwest; John Fonda, CEO of John Day Company; Phil Raimondo, CEO of Behlen Manufacturing; and Mark Zumdohme, president of Graepel North America.

In addition to the ceremony, the leaders reviewed best practices for addressing the skilled workforce shortage, including apprenticeship programs, in a special panel discussion. The panel, led by Deb Franklin, Vice President of Human Resources North America for CLAAS, was made up of several company CEOs and representatives from the Nebraska Department of Labor, ICATT and Metropolitan Community College.“The Growing Nebraska Skilled Workforce event brought together leading innovators to help more Nebraskans find a pathway to many of the great opportunities that are available in our state,” Gov. Ricketts said. “Companies like CLAAS and Graepel North America have high-quality jobs and tremendous career paths for our state’s workforce. The German Dual Study Apprenticeship Program is an innovative way to address the skilled workforce shortage by helping both people who are looking for great jobs and employers working to recruit and develop talent.”

“As a long-line manufacturer of technically advanced agriculture equipment, CLAAS relies on a dedicated and highly skilled workforce to build the high-efficiency machines that the markets demand,” said Franklin. “As a long-term business resident of Nebraska, we’re thrilled to commit to this important apprenticeship program that helps create new opportunities for our region’s workforce.”The dual study program is a work-based education model that combines classwork with on-the-job practical experience. ICATT partners with companies and community colleges to develop tailored curriculum based on industry standards and individual company needs. The program was established by the German American Chambers of Commerce of the Midwest.

In addition to the ICATT apprenticeship program, CLAAS is also using the DOL Registered Apprentice Program to provide other critical training for some of its current employees. The ICATT and DOL apprenticeship program training will be handled through Metropolitan Community College in Omaha.“We’re tremendously excited about the opportunities that these two training initiatives will bring with on-the-job training for local skilled workers who are interested in the opportunities that CLAAS North America has to offer,” Franklin said.

Photo from left to right: Matthias Ristow, president and speaker of CLAAS Omaha Inc.; John Albin, Nebraska Department of Labor Commissioner; Mark Tomkins, president and CEO of the German American Chambers of Commerce of the Midwest; Governor Pete Ricketts; Deb Cremeens-Risinger, Nebraska State Director, U.S. Department of Labor; Dr. Andreas Götze, Deputy Consul General of Germany; Mark Zumdohme, president of Graepel North America.

About CLAAS North America

CLAAS North America offers a long line of technologically innovative tractor, combine, forage harvester, baler and hay tool products to provide growers optimum performance in the field. These premium equipment lines are designed by a dedicated engineering staff located at numerous factories worldwide and focused on the production and design of harvesting equipment. The design, performance and reliability of this equipment have made CLAAS an international market leader. For more information, visit claas.com.

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CLAAS forage quality experts are highlighting the technology at the company’s booth (P37-P39), at P St. and North Green Belt, in the main exhibit area at the World Ag Expo in Tulare.

“We’re pleased to introduce game-changing innovations and products across our full line of grain, hay and forage harvesting products at the World Ag Expo,” explained Eric Raby, CLAAS of America President and GM – Sales. “We’re particularly excited about SILAGE TECH, a combination of precision performance components that work together to deliver the best silage in the business.”

Precision package for perfect silage

The SILAGE TECH™ package for the JAGUAR 900 Series forage harvester is a combination of on-board components, all connected to the operator’s preferred system for GPS mapping and steering. It includes a QUANTIMETER yield sensor to generate yield maps and control inoculant used, automatic chop length to adjust the length of the silage based on moisture, and a highly accurate near-infrared (NIR) moisture sensor.

“SILAGE TECH takes precision forage harvesting to new heights,” Raby says. “The operator can measure yield and moisture levels on the go, and leverage that real-time data to adjust chop lengths and control inoculant dosing on the fly. The result is more efficient harvesting and silage that delivers better nutrition.”

Leader in kernel and stalk processing

CLAAS recognized that while kernel processing was certainly an important factor for quality silage, so too was stalk processing. Only CLAAS forage harvesters can be equipped with a patented SHREDLAGE® processor designed to work with longer-chopped silage (20–31 mm). The unique roll design rips and shreds the stalk while crushing the kernel to produce a corn silage with significantly improved bacterial fermenting during ensiling and greater digestion in the cow’s rumen. Because SHREDLAGE silage is easier to digest, both milk production and the health of the herd are improved.

University of Wisconsin trials showed that SHREDLAGE dramatically increased the physical effectiveness of corn silage, resulting in an increase of 2.4 pounds per cow in daily milk yield. A recent University of Nebraska–Lincoln study shows that beef cattle fed rations containing SHREDLAGE had greater final body weight, average daily gain, and feed-to-gain ratios than cattle fed conventionally chopped and processed corn silage.

CLAAS of America is featuring SILAGE TECH, SHREDLAGE and other product updates at the 2019 World Ag Expo. For more information on any of the above new products and/or updates, please visit the website at www.claas.com or ask your local dealer.

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In the study, cattle that were fed rations containing SHREDLAGE corn silage experienced a 2.9 percent greater average daily gain and a 4.4 percent greater feed-to-gain ratio when compared to the control groups fed conventionally chopped and processed silage.

“The results of the study suggested that feeding 9 percentage roughage in the diet and using a process such as SHREDLAGE that increases particle size actually increased performance in the cattle efficiency as well as final product,” said Karla Jenkins, a University of Nebraska (UNL) cow/calf systems and stocker management researcher.

SHREDLAGE is an innovative long-chopped corn silage that is produced exclusively by the CLAAS JAGUAR forage harvester. By chopping the plants to greater lengths, ranging from 21 to 30 millimeters, then shredding the chopped material with a special SHREDLAGE processor, the JAGUAR produces a silage with improved bacterial fermentation during ensiling which results in greater digestion in the cow’s rumen. Past studies have proven significant benefits of using SHREDLAGE in dairy cows — including improved milk production — but until now, no trials had been conducted using beef cattle.

UNL beef cow study

University researcher Karla Jenkins wanted to determine how adding SHREDLAGE as a roughage component to a steam-flaked corn diet would affect finishing beef cattle. Since roughage tends to be bulkier and more expensive than other parts of a finishing diet, the research tested different amounts and processing methods to determine the most efficient means of incorporating the needed roughage component into the finishing diet without causing a negative impact on feedlot performance.

“The hypothesis for this study was that if we could have a little larger particle size in the roughage, such as a silage-type roughage, that possibly we could reduce the amount fed, which would then reduce the amount in the truck and increase the efficiency of feeding and still maintain rumen function for the animal,” Jenkins said.

The 128-day study was conducted during the finishing period for beef cattle at the University of Nebraska Panhandle Research Feedlot in Western Nebraska. In the study, final finishing diets contained 9 or 14 percent of either SHREDLAGE cut at 26.5 mm or conventionally chopped and processed corn silage cut at 13 mm. The diets also contained 15 percent wet distillers grains and 5 percent mineral supplement on a dry matter basis. The remainder of the diet dry matter came from steam-flaked corn.

“All of the silage for the study came from the same irrigated field, harvested on the same day, and moisture and starch levels were the same. The SHREDLAGE was harvested by a JAGUAR 960 with an ORBIS 750 header, both corn silages rated in the excellent category with processing score average of 72.4 for conventional and 74.3 for the SHREDLAGE, so both were very close, meaning the difference in the outcome came from the processing of the stalk and length, ” said Matt Jaynes, product manager for CLAAS.

The most impressive results of the study showed that the feed containing 9 percent SHREDLAGE corn silage had a 7.4 percent greater feed-to-gain ratio and 5.4 percent better average daily gain than feed containing 14 percent conventionally chopped and processed corn silage.

“The big takeaway is that very little of the ration in the study was corn silage,” said Jaynes, “but it still made a huge impact because cattle can turn SHREDLAGE into valuable nutrients more easily. So producers can increase gains simply by providing a finishing diet that includes SHREDLAGE rather than conventionally chopped and processed silage.”

The intensive processing of SHREDLAGE has been previously proven in dairy cows. A 2012 trial conducted by the University of Wisconsin showed that SHREDLAGE dramatically increases the physical effectiveness of corn silage in the rumen while improving availability of the starch contained in all parts of the plant. The result of the Wisconsin study was an increase of 2.4 pounds per cow in daily milk yield.

For more information about the University of Nebraska–Lincoln beef study, click here. For more information about the University of Wisconsin dairy study, click here. For more information about CLAAS, visit the company’s website at claas.com.

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