HarvestersPrecision FarmingWhere the perfect bale begins

At the Arc-lès-Gray factory, John Deere manu­fac­tures M and R Series round balers, each with vari­able and fixed chamber options, as well as combi­na­tion balers with an inte­grated wrapper. Farmers’ require­ments are clear: Produc­tivity, effi­ciency and low oper­ating costs. John Deere estab­lishes the basis for this perfor­mance from the very first produc­tion step.

October 2026

Text: Carolin Schlegel
Photos: John Deere

Round balers are crucial during harvest: Short time windows require fast and reli­able work. Farmers must always keep oper­ating costs in mind to work econom­i­cally and sustain­ably. A round baler is there­fore not simply a seasonal product; it’s a machine that matters enor­mously within a short period of time. This under­standing shapes how they are built at the Arc-lès-Gray factory. This is where the M and R Series are produced, with fixed or vari­able cham­bers, as well as combi baler models with an inte­grated wrapper.

Explore the baler produc­tion

Almost 80% of the balers are deliv­ered before mid-April, with the main produc­tion period running from November to March. Top quality, preci­sion and exten­sive testing ensure reli­able perfor­mance in the field.

Hours of welding

After the metal parts have been cut and bent, the next step is welding. The frame is the largest compo­nent of a round baler and takes a great deal of time to weld.

Did you know?

How long does it take to weld the combi­na­tion baler frame?

Reso­lu­tion:

Welding the baler’s largest compo­nent takes a full working day – after all, every weld seam must meet the highest quality stan­dards.

Into the bale chamber

The rotor moves the crop into the bale chamber. Depending on the model and the baler’s forage length of cut, the rotor has more or fewer rotor tines. To prepare the rotor perfectly for demanding use, the tines are welded by an auto­mated robot. This ensures that every weld seam is the same and reli­ably strong.

Did you know?

Why do different models have different numbers of rotor tines?

Show answer

Reso­lu­tion:

The number of rotor tines depends on how long the forage should be cut. Lower length of cut means more rotor tines.

Now assembly begins

After welding and painting, the compo­nents are brought to final assembly and fitted together. Here you can see the rotor, with augers welded to the sides. Beneath it, the pickup will be installed; its tines collect the windrow from the field.

Did you know?

What do the pickup and rotor do in the baler?

Reso­lu­tion:

The pickup; the rotating row of tines, collects the crop from the field. The rotor draws it in and feeds it smoothly into the bale chamber so that the chamber can work evenly.

Four produc­tion lines

Arc-lès-Gray has four produc­tion lines: One for fixed-chamber balers, one for the R Series with vari­able chamber, one for the M Series with vari­able chamber, and one for balers with wrap­ping func­tion­ality. For the latter, the respec­tive balers are taken off the end of the produc­tion line and moved to the wrapper line.

The final test

At the end of the produc­tion line, every baler is thor­oughly tested at a test station for almost two hours. During this process, the baler must meet defined stan­dard values before it is allowed to leave the factory.

Did you know?

What is checked on all balers at the end of produc­tion?

Show answer

Reso­lu­tion:

All balers must pass tests of their hydraulics, elec­tronics and temper­a­ture behav­iour to ensure there is no over­heating.

Perfectly wrapped

On combi­na­tion balers, the wrapper is also tested because wrap­ping is a complex process: The wrap­ping table rotates the bale, the wrap­ping arms apply the film in several layers, and the knife cuts it off precisely. In addi­tion to speed, it is impor­tant that the wrap­ping process is perfectly synchro­nised so that the next bale can be processed imme­di­ately.

Did you know?

John Deere’s wrapper is among the fastest on the market. How many revo­lu­tions per minute does the wrapper make?

Reso­lu­tion:

The wrapper rotates at a full 40 revo­lu­tions per minute. Maximum speed for more bales in less time.

Explore the Arc-lès-Gray plant

At Arc-Lès-Gray, John Deere builds far more than just machines. Although the factory turns out round balers, front loaders and key compo­nents for other Deere sites, the focus is clearly on quality, team­work and constant improve­ment. Factory manager Jean-Michel Petit explains how this mindset helps create reli­able equip­ment for their customers.

Making work easier

In addi­tion to the tests at the end of produc­tion, accel­er­ated life­time tests, field tests and soft­ware tests are carried out at Arc-lès-Gray. The latter in partic­ular are playing an increas­ingly impor­tant role, because modern round balers collect data them­selves and work intel­li­gently with the John Deere tractor. With Tractor Baler Automa­tion (TBA), for example, the baler commands the tractor to stop when the bale is finished, and the tractor hydraulics open and close the gate to unload the bale auto­mat­i­cally. Preci­sion farming func­tions like these make farmers’ work easier: Fewer manual inter­ven­tions, consis­tent oper­ating speed and full control over bale quality.

Data also creates greater trans­parency and predictability. With Smart Baling, the baler records mois­ture, bale count, drop loca­tion and the number of net and film layers. Combined with machine and consump­tion data, this provides an accu­rate picture of produc­tivity and total cost of oper­a­tion. Farms can rely on a clean data basis.