Static balers offer farmers and contractors the ability to package precision-chopped maize and other fodder into wrapped round bales that can be sold to farmers without their own clamp.

The concept has been around for several years, but manufacturers have slowly been fettling the design to make it more efficient.

One of the most high-tech examples is the latest LT Master F115 from Austrian firm Goweil. This mobile processing plant consists of a round baler and wrapper unit hooked to a fold-out elevator that trailers can tip into.

See also: Contractor rates his £190,000 static Orkel baler

It’s a self-contained setup, meaning it can be used either in a yard or the field. Most people run it via a pto shaft that sticks out at the rear, but it can be set up in a yard with a huge 90kW three-phase motor providing the power.

For transport, the conveyor folds neatly so that the whole rig can be towed by one tractor.

Refinements on the latest incarnation include a hydraulic drive of all the components, allowing operators to vary the speeds of different elements to get it running at its optimum output.

There is also a new roller with combine-style retractable fingers in the centre of the feed-in elevator to improve the crop flow into the machine.

The LT Master is designed for long periods of continuous operation, with a comprehensive automatic lubrication system and plenty of storage for film.

The roller bale chamber can tie bales with either net or film, but almost all customers opt for the latter.

Neat optional extras include an onboard weighing system complete with a printer that produces labels to show the contents of each bale.

A wide range of products can be wrapped with the baler, from silage, crimped grain and total mixed ration, to woodchip, alfalfa and hemp. The list price is a weighty €300,000 (£262,678).