Proven concept further developed

Hay milk can only be as tasty as the hay that goes into the feed trough. In their project work with Professor Dr Thomas Schreier-Alt, mechanical engineering students Max Schwarzwälder and Moritz Morgenstern applied the tried-and-tested concept of the rotary tedder to today's requirements of organic farming.

Modern rotary tedders do have a high working width and can thus effectively work large areas. However, what is most valuable remains in the field as crumb loss: herbs and flowers are simply chopped to dust by the high rotational speed of the rotors.

With the help of technical mechanics, hydraulics and a lot of commitment, the students constructed a hay tedder that gently turns the grass and still has a working width of more than ten metres. This not only makes field work more effective, but also allows short periods of good weather to be used for haymaking.

With the active support of Demeter farmer Dominik Schmidberger near Bad Waldsee, the hay tedder was built in winter according to the design drawings and has been gently turning hay hectare after hectare ever since.