Abstract: A device for wrapping bales of agricultural produce such as bales of hay, straw or green crop with a film. The bales are completely wrapped with the film and are marked to set forth the quality of the bale as silage and with further information. The information may include the amount of film used to wrap the bale and thus the number of wrapping layers, and the name of the person responsible for wrapping the bale. Electronic devices may be applied to the wrapping film for ascertaining the location of the bale after it has been wrapped by GPS or DGPS. The information can be imprinted directly on the film used for wrapping the bale or on labels applied to the film.

Abstract: A round baler with a comminution device for waste materials which is carried on a truck bed or bed of tractor that picks up, comminutes and bales waste materials at various places and carries the waste material in the form of rolls therefrom without intermediate storage to a further place where the waste materials are stored, reprocessed or destroyed.

Abstract: A device for wrapping bales of agricultural produce such as bales of hay, straw or green crop with a film. The bales are completely wrapped with the film and are marked to set forth the quality of the bale as silage and with further information. The information may include the amount of film used to wrap the bale and thus the number of wrapping layers, and the name of the person responsible for wrapping the bale. Electronic devices may be applied to the wrapping film for ascertaining the location of the bale after it has been wrapped by GPS or DGPS. The information can be imprinted directly on the film used for wrapping the bale or on labels applied to the film.

Abstract: An agricultural machine having drivable members for working the soil or crop or both. Either the agricultural machine or a tractor connected therewith has a storage medium which may be a computer memory in which a desired relationship between the rpm of the working member and the driving velocity of the agricultural machine is stored. The agricultural machine includes a governor or control mechanism for regulating, on the basis of the relationship stored in the storage medium, the rpm of the working member in dependence on the agricultural machine's velocity. In this manner, the optimum rpm for the driven working member can be set for any driving velocity of the machine to maximize the results obtained by the working member in improved soil or crop conditions or both.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for automatically feeding calves and other animals a substance comprising milk, mother's milk, foremilk, beestings, beestingslike milk, or colostrums or a combination thereof by conveying same from a first animal to a second animal via an automatic milking machine and a transport system. The transport system includes an analyzing device to determine the composition of the substance received from the first animal and a metering device for feeding the substance to the second animal. The transport system also has two storage areas for receiving samples of the substance and storing same in a cool, frozen or dried frozen state. A mixing mechanism is also provided for adding material such as water, medicants, vitamins, nutritive supplements, immunological stimulants, growth stimulants, hormones, and combinations thereof to the substance consumed by the second animal for the nutritive needs of the second animal.

Abstract: A method of training animals that are milked in a fully automated milking system wherein they enter a milking parlor at their own volition, not to enter the milking parlor too soon after the previous milking by causing the animal that does so to experience unpleasant procedures. The circumstance that the animal is visiting a milking parlor too soon after its last visit is sensed by the milk flow from at least one of the teats or because the automatic milking machine is unable to connect the teat cups to the animal's teats. In the latter event, the animal is immediately caused to depart from the milking parlor. In the former event, either the teat cups are immediately disconnected and the animal is caused to depart or the animal is milked for a prolonged period of time which is less than pleasant to the animal and then caused to depart. The prolonged milking may be coincident with alteration of the milk vacuum level.

Abstract: An apparatus for automatically shaving animals' udder and part of their legs while they are in a milking compartment for automatically milking animals. A shaving device is movably connected to one side of the milking compartment and is movable both transversely and longitudinally as well as vertically relative to the milking compartment for automatically shaving animals in a period of about 30 seconds in preselected areas in the vicinity of their udders and hind legs. The shaving machine has a robot arm with a shaver provided on its end. The shaving machine is preferably hingeably connected to the side of the milking compartment and its operations are controlled by a computer so that animals identified by an identification system are shaved, say, every tenth time that they enter the milking compartment to be milked therein, or are shaved therein after a selected duration of time after being previously shaved in the milking compartment.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for obtaining optimal cultivation of a parcel of land. A soil working machine with drivable working members, such as a rotary harrow, is provided with soil working members which rotate about approximately vertically orientated axes, and cooperates with a geographic positioning system such as DGPS, GPS, Lorean or a dead reckoning system to determine on a continual basis the actual position of the soil working machine on a parcel of land. Simultaneously, the condition or the composition or both of the underlying soil is determined and data of same is transmitted to a processing unit which maps the parcel of land into subareas wherein the states of the soil are the same. A control unit applies this mapping for controlling the soil working members during the soil working machine's operations so that each subarea of the same soil state is optimally cultivated.

Abstract: An apparatus for automatically milking animals, such as cows, which comprises teat cups for connection to the teats of the animal to be milked and separate cups for connection to the teats of the animal for the purpose of cleansing, disinfecting or foremilking the animal. The apparatus is further provided with a switching device for alternately connecting the teat cups and the separate cups to the animal's teats. Each set of cups has its own compartment for being cleaned by a fluid spray. The process is controlled and recorded for each animal or groups of animals in a computer in association with an animal identification system. Robot arms separately move each set of cups to and from the animal's teats and to and from their respective cleaning compartments, and a further robot arm has a detector such as a laser, ultrasonic sensor or camera mounted thereon for locating the animal's teats so that the two sets of cups can be connected and disconnected therefrom.

Abstract: A racking, pickup and windrowing implement for moving crop lying on the ground laterally which includes a first machine comprising rake wheels that rotate about substantially vertical axes and move the crop inwardly where it is picked up by a pick-up implement and conveyed to a displacing device which displaces the crop laterally and discharges it back on the ground in a windrow which is proximate the boundary of the strip being worked or, in one embodiment, the windrow is formed by discharging it laterally from the displacing device at a further distance away from the boundary of the strip being worked which is substantially equal to the width of the strip being worked. The displacing device comprises two endless members in series. Such endless members and the rake wheels are foldable upwardly so that the entire machine combination has a width suitable for transport.

Abstract: The combination of a master vehicle which may be an agricultural tractor, transport or self-propelled implement, and one or more satellite vehicles which also may be tractors, agricultural transports or self-propelled agricultural implements. The satellite vehicle is controlled by a control system from the master vehicle, such control being exercised radiographically or by cable via a tramline system. The satellite vehicle has video cameras arranged to view both forwardly and to the rear and transmit views which can be seen on a monitor in the master vehicle. The control system includes computer programs for selectively causing the satellite vehicle to travel either parallel to the master vehicle at a selected distance therefrom or to follow the track of the master vehicle.

Abstract: An Apparatus for automatically milking animals, such as cows, by a milking robot which is connected to a refrigerated milk reservoir and controlled by a computer system. After emptying and cleaning the milk reservoir, cooling of the reservoir is automatically activated when the computer system senses that a predetermined amount of milk has entered the reservoir via the milking robot. An automatic cleansing system for the milking apparatus and an automatically replaceable milk filters are also disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus for automatically milking animals such as cows by a milking machine which is under the control of a computer for automatically connecting teat cups to the teats of the animal, for automatically milking the animal, and for automatically disconnecting the teat cups from the animal. The apparatus is further provided with an animal recognition or identification system which is a communication with the computer system. This computer system is capable of generating a signal when the number of animals that have been milked after the latest milking turn of an animal returning to be milked by the apparatus exceeds a predetermined numerical value. This signal generated by the computer denotes that this particular animal is eligible to be milked. Otherwise, the animal is lead from a pre-milking selected compartment into an area away from the apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus including an implement for milking animals such as cows in one or more milking compartments, having at least one automatic feeding system, and at least one animal identification system, both connected to a computer. During the milking of the animal, a quantity of fodder which is adjusted for the particular animal is automatically supplied to that animal by a computer-controlled feeding system. This quantity of fodder is supplied so as to be distributed over the expected milking period.

Abstract: A milking apparatus comprising a circulation line in a milk circuit which includes a bulk milk tank, and a pump for circulating milk around the circuit including through the tank and through the circulation line. There are one or more milking compartments for automatically milking animals, such as cows, which are connected to the circulation line by supply lines. A milk filter can be incorporated in a circulation line or in a supply line or both. In one embodiment the milk filter is automatically renewable. It comprises a band of filtration material wound on two bobbins wherein the filter band intercepts the milk line at a bias cut between two clamping plates, one of which can be pivoted whereby the filter band is advanced automatically on a bobbin. Other filtration units are disclosed which may be manually replaced, one of which is contained in the bulk milk tank.