Baling hay is no horse feed. That's what executives with Falher Alfalfa Ltd. in Falher, Alberta, Canada, discovered.

The company, which operates the largest alfalfa processing plant in North America, brought a new baler online to keep up with global demand for its feed exports. Managers found they also had to automate their stretch wrapping operation in order to safely unitize and protect loads of hay, alfalfa, and wood shavings for long international shipments to Pacific Rim markets as distant as Korea and Taiwan.

The system that unitizes and protects the loads during long sea voyages has a floor-anchored design and a fully automated, 4,000-pound capacity conveyor system. A rotary tower design eliminates the need to spin the load, which is ideal for wrapping Falher's bales.

The wrapping process begins after the product is compressed into cubes and stacked into groupings of 18 bales. Employees place a plastic sleeve atop each grouping to hold it together as it moves down the conveyor. When the load arrives at the stretch wrapper, a programmable logic controller (PLC) initiates the wrapping process.

A unique pop-up film delivery feature raises the load so the machine can place a section of wrap beneath the load, unitizing it from top to bottom. This also allows Falher to avoid the use of costly pallets for product storage and shipment, while ensuring the integrity and safety of the wrapped product.

After being wrapped, the bundles are picked up by lift truck with a special attachment and taken to the docks for shipment to seaports and international markets across the Pacific.