The Difference Between Round and Square Balers

Classic landscapes in many paintings depict beautiful rural scenes, but the reality of forage production and storage in ancient times was quite different. Until the late 19th century, farm workers cut forage with scythes and then used rakes to create and collect haystacks.

The first baler was built in the 1870s. These early machines were manually operated and were mostly used for tying hay bales with twine. However, the modern mechanical baler was introduced in 1936 by the Allis-Chalmers company. This model automatically compressed and baled the forage.

Later, other companies such as John Deere, New Holland, and Claas also produced more advanced models. During the 1950s and 1960s, most forage was collected as small square bales (also known in some regions of the world as conventional bales). They were designed in such a way that they could be manually stacked in a barn or stable until needed.