Brad Pollema dreamt of spending his life feeding cattle since he was a young boy on his Sioux County, Iowa family farm. Today he’s living out that dream as a feedlot owner and operator. Every day he watches his cattle grow and enjoys the satisfaction he gets from being part of something bigger — feeding the world.

But in order to reach his goals and help feed the world, Pollema, his father and his son must take great care of their 6,500-head cattle herd. That means they need to be able to feed and bed their cattle, quickly and efficiently.

“We buy cows in the fall and then feed them until hopefully April or May. Then we ship them off,” Pollema said.

To get the job done, the Pollemas regularly use a bale processor, but they needed an upgrade.

“We put bedding down every three days, and our pens are all concrete, so it’s important to keep the cattle up off the cement,” Pollema explained. “If we get wet and rainy weather, we will put down bedding every day — so about 48 bales a day.”

Distributing such large amounts of material on a day-to-day basis really does a number on a processor that’s not built tough — they needed a workhorse. They finally met their match when they got the chance to own and operate a pilot unit of the new Vermeer BPX9010 bale processor this past winter.

“We will put 4,000 bales through (a bale processor) a year, and since using the BPX9010, we haven’t seen any issues with plugging,” Pollema said. “Dry bales, can whip through in 20 seconds and wet bales only take a minute or so.”

In addition to being able to process bales more consistently, the angled discharged chute and shorter floor pan on the BPX9010 bale processor allows the machine to throw crop farther.

“The BPX9010 bale processor can throw stalks far. It can throw it 70 to 80 ft (21.3 to 24.4 m) if you want, and I’m not even running the tractor wide open,” Pollema said.

The efficiency of the vertical bale lift system also makes it quicker and easier to load bales and helps reduce stress on the machine.

“If you can do things faster and quicker, you save money,” Pollema said. “Time is a big thing, especially in the winter out here — you only get seven to eight hours of light and then it’s dark.”

Since Pollema switched to the BPX9010 bale processor, he says he has not only saved time by greatly reducing machine plugs, he also has not had any unexpected machine repairs. As a result, he’s at home more often.

“My wife is happier,” Pollema said.

And that is why Brad Pollema switched to the Vermeer BPX9010 bale processor.

Learn more about the new BPX9010 bale processor on Vermeer.com.

Information noted above was gathered from a third party who was advised his/her experience might be featured in marketing materials. This article contains third-party observations, advice or experiences that do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Vermeer Corporation, its affiliates or its dealers. Individual results may vary based on care and operation of machine and crop and field conditions, which may adversely affect performance.