Based in Peer, Belgium, large scale contractor, Gert Vandijck is bridging the gap in his local market, offering maximised forage quality to his customers while simplifying the recycling process.
Gert Vandijck operates a vast contracting operation incorporating all aspects of grain harvesting, tillage and silaging in Peer, North Limburg in Belgium.
In 1965 while working his own farm, Gert’s grandfather, Thieuke Vandijck, was inspired when he saw a gap in the market to offer farmers support.
“He recognised that not everyone always has access to the resources, space and man-power required to run an efficient system,” says Mr Vandijck.
Keen to help his fellow farmers, he drafted in his three sons, some nearby workers and bought his first thresher to assist with harvesting – and Loonbedrijf Vandijck, the contracting business, was born.
The family business continued to thrive for the following 10 years, becoming prominent within the community as experts in their field, before the three sons took over the running of the business in 1978.
Now headed up by Gert Vandijck and his wife Leen, they farm 74 acres of their own land while producing 10,000 square and 4,500 round bales of silage each season for themselves and their customers.
A change in business operations
Looking to add value to their offering within the local market, Mr Vandijck looked into the possibility of using net replacement film in their silage production.
“After seeking advice from Cédric Bastings, at our local Göweil dealership, we realised that adopting a film and film approach would allow us to set ourselves apart from our competitors,” says Mr Vandijck.
“The film would allow us to make more compact bales with a superior oxygen barrier to improve fermentation, the nutritional value of the forage and reduce the chance of spoilage.”
The Vandijcks set out looking for the right baler to run the system and found the Göweil G1 – F125 kombi and the McHale Fusion Plus to be the most popular choice.
“Having received trusted advice from Cédric on the superior quality of the bales produced by the baler, and the efficiency of the production process, we bought the Göweil G1 – F125 kombi in 2024,” he explains.
“As we were looking for a unique offering and there were a large amount of contractors in the area operating McHale balers, the Göweil seemed the best fit for us.”
A fresh approach to the season
To begin with, Mr Vandijck was anxious about adjusting to a new system but says the transition could not have been easier.
“From an operator’s point of view, the control settings for application are simple,” he says.
“We use between four and six revolutions of Baletite around each bale, followed by six layers SilotitePro1650, which works well for us.”
First hand benefits
Mr Vandijck says: “When we first bought the new combi-machine we’d hoped that we might make 1,500 round silage bales, using Baletite in the upcoming season.
“We were nervous of our customers reactions to switching, as there was a lot of scepticism around the efficiency of the process.
“Despite uncertainty, we ended up producing 4,500 bales in our first season with Baletite and our customers seemed to love it!” says Mr Vandijck.
Now using Baletite to wrap 90% of his silage bales, both Mr Vandijck and his customers have been reaping the benefits.
“Customers commented that the weight of the bales had increased significantly as well as being more compact which makes them easier to handle, transport and store.
“From my perspective, when feeding out the bales are much easier to open, I do mine manually with a knife and I never have any problems,” says Mr Vandijck
“I haven’t found any mould in the silage and there’s no wastage from forage getting stuck in the net, it just comes straight out,” he explains.
Simplifying recyclability
On top of this, Mr Vandijck says: “Baletite makes the recycling process much simpler.”Baletite is made from the same material as the
SilotitePro1650 outer wrap, which means there is no need to separate in order to recycle.
“All plastic is collected after use and our customers really value how easy Baletite makes the entire system, from the moment the silage is baled to the time the wrap is disposed of.
“Overall, I’ve been very satisfied with how Baletite has simplified our silage system as well as our customers experience, while maximising quality and reducing wastage,” he concludes.
