Baler mass flow sensing assembly and method

A crop sensing system for a baler comprising:

• a compression system for forming a bale;
• a feed system for picking up crop from a surface and conveying the crop to the compression system;
• a sensor arrangement including at least one sensor being coupled to at least one of the compression system or the feed system, the at least one sensor configured to generate signals over a duration of time which correspond to a series of instantaneous crop loads on the at least one of the compression system or the feed system;
• and
• a control unit configured to receive the signals from the sensor arrangement over the duration of time and calculate crop mass flow rate based on at least the signals and the duration of time recorded in conjunction with the signals,
• wherein the baler includes a loading fork having a range of motion for passing crop from a pre-compression chamber into the compression system, wherein the at least one sensor is a first sensor coupled to the loading fork, wherein the signals are first signals from the first sensor, wherein the sensor arrangement includes a second sensor coupled to the pre-compression chamber and configured to generate a second signal, and wherein the control unit is configured to calculate the crop mass flow rate based on at least 1) the first signals from the first sensor corresponding to crop loads on the loading fork and the duration of time recorded in conjunction with the first signals and 2) the second signal from the second sensor corresponding to the crop load on the pre-compression chamber.