Like many farmers across North America, Brian MacKay of Red Isle Farms has a large straw baler at his Hunter River operation.
Over the last two and a half years, he has wanted to sell straw to the race horse market in the United States and the United Kingdom; however, that poses a problem since the racing industry is not set up to handle the large bales. "You can't really bring a machine that close to the horse barns," he explained. "I was at a big track in the United States and they just moved the straw in wheelbarrows."
That small fact has refused to deter the resourceful entrepreneur. With assistance from the Prince Edward Island Adapt Council, which administers funding from the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada CARD Program, MacKay has designed a straw compacter and packager that is unique in North America, and with the help of a friend who has an engineering background, he is bringing the concept to life.
"We are getting pretty close to finishing off the prototype machine," MacKay said. "I feel pretty good about how it is coming so far." The machine takes bales that are eight feet long, 32 inches wide and 36 inches high and compacts them into a finished product that is 32 inches long, 14 inches wide and 18 inches high. In addition, the finished bale can be packaged by the machine in either a jute wrap or plastic.
In addition to gaining access to the horse market, which he described as "huge," Brian also hopes to patent and sell the machine. While there are machines on the market that will either compact or package straw, there are none that will perform both functions.
His original plan was to have a pump on the machine that would allow it to be operated from the power take off on a tractor; however, he said he is now exploring the possibility of having a diesel engine on the unit that would make it totally self contained. Brian said they are also looking at the possibility of having a unit on the back of the machine that would feed in the bales automatically.
"I am excited by the potential for marketing this technology," he said. "Large balers are pretty common not only in Canada but also throughout the United States."
Brian said the machine would also handle hay. Brian said, after the prototype is completed, he will be holding a demonstration day that will hopefully attract interest not only from the farming community but the racing industry as well.
"We really haven't begun to explore the full potential of this product," he said.
This is one of a series of articles prepared by the Agricultural Awareness Committee to highlight new and innovative developments in the province's farming community and is funded through the Prince Edward Island ADAPT Council.