The Grasslands Field Days are held every three years on a large site near Coventry in central England, attracting Europe's key manufacturers keen to showcase their latest fodder conservation machinery.

As a bonus, knee-high pastures were a welcome sight for the 15 Vicon and Taarup dealers from Victoria and New South Wales, who also toured Kverneland Group's factories in Denmark and Holland, led by KvAgriculture's Jan Moens.

While they were shown the latest developments in manufacturing technology, and a number of new machines destined for the Australia market, it was the 'Grasslands experience' that was the tour highlight, according to Mr Moens.

"The scale was unbelievable," he said.

"There was a massive range of machinery and all working in heavy grass that we just don't see here these days.

"It gave us a really good understanding of what everything is capable of.

"And it was reassuring to see the Kverneland equipment, especially the baler range, stack up so well."

Mr Moens said the conditions meant it was impossible to "hide any deficiencies".

"For example, bales of silage are weighed and the result is stuck on the bale for everybody to see," he said.

"Our Vicon RV 2160 was pushing out bales (weighing) over a tonne and I saw one at 1030 kg - while one of our opposition brands was managing only around 700kg.

"That’s good information for our dealers to bring back." The dealers saw two machines in action at Grasslands that are scheduled for release in Australia later in the year.

Vicon's Andex 1103 – poised to become the largest twin rotor centre delivery rake on the Australian market -covers a massive 10.5m and features a six-wheel Terralink suspension to cope with uneven ground.

They also saw the 55cu m Taarup TA 10055R self-loading forage wagon that features a 1.85m wide pickup feeding a 1.43m wide, 800mm diameter V-max rotor.

As well, when it visiting the Kertminde factory in Denmark, the Australian group was told it will now be responsible for all mower and mower-conditioner production with a move to a common cutter bar for all models expected to see it produce 7000 to 7500 units annually.

The group also visited the Geldrop factory in Holland where all baler, combination baler wrapper, and bale wrapper manufacture is being brought together.

Mr Moens said the tour had given dealers a much better understanding of the technology behind the Group's products, placing them in a better position to assist customers when selecting machinery.