Cob Baling

• Learning year with learning curves

• PBM witnessed both the “Right” and

“Wrong” way to cob bale

• Over communication and education

between producer and PBM was critical

• Still have many things to learn

Early Learning's - Baling

All biomass in baler’s

path removed.

Black strips can be seen

up and down the field.

Early Learning’s – Baling

Tine marks can be see in

the dirt due to the balers

pickup being run to low.

Large amounts of dirt can

be see in the bale samples

due to low baler pickup

heights.

After Discussions with Producers

• Many producers called to make sure they were

doing the procedure right

• Multiple farm visits were preformed by the PBM-

EMM Staff (Alan & Eric)

• Clarification was made on the material wanted (Many producers were not on the same page as POET)

– “You just want cob and husks, right?”

– “You don’t want me to leave any cobs behind, right”

– “It sure seems like I am leaving a lot behind?”

Post Discussion/ Correct Operations

Residue is still left in the

baler’s path.

It is hard to see where a

baler even went.

With the pickup set right some

cob and leaf material are left,

but no tine marks meaning no

to little dirt.

Bale samples are free of

dirt and clean.

Post Discussion/ Correct Operations

Overview

• Many producers started by running the baler pickup too low

• Many were then concerned with leaving too much behind when

the baler pickup was raised

• Clarification on what POET’s desired feedstock to the producer

was a key step

• When baling was done according to SOP, many landlords were

pleased with the level of residue removed and gave their

blessing to collect cob bales on their land

• This year provided the learning year we planned on and hope it

will minimize the learning curve need by producers in future

years

• Alan Keller and Eric Bruhn did a great job working with

producers and helping to educate them to the desired practices

and on any questions the producer had