A windrower system includes: a windrower including: a chassis; a cutter carried by the chassis and configured to cut crop material; and an adjustable conditioner carried by the chassis behind the cutter and configured to condition crop material cut by the cutter; and a controller operably coupled to the conditioner and including a memory. The controller is configured to: receive a crop type signal corresponding to a crop type; recall at least one conditioner operating parameter from the memory based at least partially on the received crop type signal; and output a conditioner adjustment signal to the conditioner to adjust the conditioner to the recalled at least one conditioner operating parameter.

A windrower system includes: a windrower including: a chassis; a cutter carried by the chassis and configured to cut crop material; and an adjustable conditioner carried by the chassis behind the cutter and configured to condition crop material cut by the cutter; and a controller operably coupled to the conditioner and including a memory. The controller is configured to: receive a crop type signal corresponding to a crop type; recall at least one conditioner operating parameter from the memory based at least partially on the received crop type signal; and output a conditioner adjustment signal to the conditioner to adjust the conditioner to the recalled at least one conditioner operating parameter.

A conditioner unit (6) for conditioning crop material comprises a rotor (17) having a shaft (18) that carries a plurality of conditioning elements, a drive mechanism for driving rotation of the rotor (17) about an axis, and a deflector element having a working surface (26) that surrounds at least part of the circumference of the rotor (17) to define a conditioning passage through which crop material is transported by rotation of the rotor (17). An adjusting mechanism (30) is provided for adjusting the position of the deflector element relative to the rotor (17), the adjusting mechanism (30) including an actuator (50), a sensor for sensing an operational condition of the conditioning unit (6) and a control system (56) that receives a sensor signal from the sensor and controls actuation of the actuator (50) in response to said sensor signal to provide a desired level of conditioning during operation of the conditioner unit (6).

A conditioner unit (6) for conditioning crop material comprises a rotor (17) having a shaft (18) that carries a plurality of conditioning elements, a drive mechanism for driving rotation of the rotor (17) about an axis, and a deflector element having a working surface (26) that surrounds at least part of the circumference of the rotor (17) to define a conditioning passage through which crop material is transported by rotation of the rotor (17). An adjusting mechanism (30) is provided for adjusting the position of the deflector element relative to the rotor (17), the adjusting mechanism (30) including an actuator (50), a sensor for sensing an operational condition of the conditioning unit (6) and a control system (56) that receives a sensor signal from the sensor and controls actuation of the actuator (50) in response to said sensor signal to provide a desired level of conditioning during operation of the conditioner unit (6).

An image capture device captures an image of crop after it has been processed by a kernel processing unit on a forage harvester. A size distribution indicative of the distribution of kernel fragment sizes in the harvested crop is identified from the image captured by the image capture device. A control system generates control signals to control a speed differential in the speed of rotation of kernel processing rollers based on the size distribution. Control signals can also be generated to control a size of a gap between the kernel processing rollers.

An image capture device captures an image of crop after it has been processed by a kernel processing unit on a forage harvester. A size distribution indicative of the distribution of kernel fragment sizes in the harvested crop is identified from the image captured by the image capture device. A control system generates control signals to control a speed differential in the speed of rotation of kernel processing rollers based on the size distribution. Control signals can also be generated to control a size of a gap between the kernel processing rollers.

An impact processing system 10 having a central opening 12 enabling material flow into a primary impact zone 14 in which is located an impact mechanism 16 rotatable about a rotation axis 18. An impact structure 20 provided with a plurality of holes 22 surrounds the impact mechanism 16. The rotatable impact mechanism 16 impacts material entering the primary impact zone 14 from the central opening 12 and accelerate the impacted material in a radial outward direction toward the impact structure 20 to effect fragmentation of the impacted material so that when sufficiently fragmented the material is able to pass through the holes 22. An optional outer structure 30 is radially spaced from the impact structure 20 and may comprise one or more segments that cumulatively extend about the axis of rotation 18 for an angle from 30 and 270 inclusive. A rotatable set of impact members 50 may be located between the impact structure and the outer structure. One or more gaps 28 may be provided in the impact structure 20 to allow the passage of large and/or hard objects that cannot otherwise be fragmented. The outer structure 30 is positioned to span across the gaps 28 so that material passing there thought is directed onto the outer structure 30.

An impact processing system 10 having a central opening 12 enabling material flow into a primary impact zone 14 in which is located an impact mechanism 16 rotatable about a rotation axis 18. An impact structure 20 provided with a plurality of holes 22 surrounds the impact mechanism 16. The rotatable impact mechanism 16 impacts material entering the primary impact zone 14 from the central opening 12 and accelerate the impacted material in a radial outward direction toward the impact structure 20 to effect fragmentation of the impacted material so that when sufficiently fragmented the material is able to pass through the holes 22. An optional outer structure 30 is radially spaced from the impact structure 20 and may comprise one or more segments that cumulatively extend about the axis of rotation 18 for an angle from 30 and 270 inclusive. A rotatable set of impact members 50 may be located between the impact structure and the outer structure. One or more gaps 28 may be provided in the impact structure 20 to allow the passage of large and/or hard objects that cannot otherwise be fragmented. The outer structure 30 is positioned to span across the gaps 28 so that material passing there thought is directed onto the outer structure 30.

A mower conditioner implement includes a cutting system for cutting crop material, and a crop conditioning system for receiving the cut crop material from the cutting system and conditioning the cut crop material to facilitate drying. An image sensor senses an image of the cut crop material. The image includes a color spectrum of the cut crop material from reflected light emitted from a light source. A computing device compares the color spectrum of the image to a calibrated color measurement to determine an ash content in the cut crop material, and/or a degree of stem conditioning of the cut crop material. The computing device may then communicate the results to an operator, and/or adjust the cutting system or the crop conditioning system based on the ash content or the degree of stem conditioning.

A mower conditioner implement includes a cutting system for cutting crop material, and a crop conditioning system for receiving the cut crop material from the cutting system and conditioning the cut crop material to facilitate drying. An image sensor senses an image of the cut crop material. The image includes a color spectrum of the cut crop material from reflected light emitted from a light source. A computing device compares the color spectrum of the image to a calibrated color measurement to determine an ash content in the cut crop material, and/or a degree of stem conditioning of the cut crop material. The computing device may then communicate the results to an operator, and/or adjust the cutting system or the crop conditioning system based on the ash content or the degree of stem conditioning.