In this tractor video we’ll learn all about how rice straw is baled. The baling operation featured is comprised of 4 MT635B Challenger tractors, each pulling a Claas 5300 RC Quadrant straw baler. Also included are additional tractors pulling behind 20′ rakers that create the straw rows for the balers. Baling rice straw after harvest allows us to prepare the field for next years crop.

Another straw management program in California, aside from baling rice straw, is tilling and flooding the fields before winter. This helps the straw to decompose. It’s a four step process. In the video you’ll see our Case IH 7240 chopping the straw, then our Case IH 260 Magnum plowing the field and finally our Case IH 245 putting in drains–all before flooding the field with water.

Whether a farmer bales their rice straw after harvest, it’s a lot of tractor work!

Check out last week’s episode of Rice Farming TV: “Yield Loss during the 2019 California Rice Harvest!”