|
|
|
Long train of technology continues to advanceBy Larry Dreiling Even most city kids learned in school that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. They maybe also learned that Cyrus McCormick invented the reaper and John Deere the plow. They likely never heard of Lambert Wilkes. Dr. Wilkes was a professor in the former Department of Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University. Working with Cotton Incorporated's J.K. (Farmer) Jones, Wilkes and a team of TAMU agricultural engineers invented the cotton module builder in 1971. The module builder solved the great logistical bottleneck of cotton ginning by allowing cotton to be harvested quickly and then compressed into large modules. The modules are then tarped and temporarily stored at the edge of the field. The modules are later loaded onto trucks and transported to a cotton gin for processing. Today, Wilkes' successor is working on improving on what is called by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers one of the top three innovations in mechanized cotton production. Dr. Steve Searcy, professor and associate head of TAMU's Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, is one of many scientists upholding the tradition of innovation of McCormick, Deere and Wilkes. These scientists are researching many other advances in agriculture technology, from remote sensing for nitrogen application to assisting in political arguments over water management in terraced fields. Searcy's research is looking at ways to improve the performance of cotton modules as they hold seed cotton. "This year's production has not been the same as the last couple of years," Searcy said, "but still, with fewer gins, we're seeing longer seasons. We've been working on techniques of how modules are formed to ensure they have the capability to shed water when rain or snow events come." This research, led by producer feedback to manufacturers, has led to the development of a module builder that will generate a more peaked shape to permit runoff of water and reduce the number of ponding areas that collect water on top of the module. "If you get out and really look on top of a module, you'll see they tend to have a lot of depressions on the top," Searcy said. "With a rainfall event, water will sit on top of the tarp and, eventually, will leak through. Even a tarp that's in pretty good shape will have some pinholes and that water will gradually disappear into the module. "We've been documenting the overall costs if we don't protect seed cotton well. What we're looking at is an improved module builder with a feedback system for the operator. It will describe the shape of the module once they take the machine off of it. We also are looking at the power tramper, so that it will move cotton from the outer edges of the builder to the centerline." Searcy's research has shown that, if a producer wants a particular shape of the top surface of the module, the amount of mass of cotton in a column must be changed. "We can compress cotton, but it springs back," Searcy said. "The height of the module that springs back is determined by how much material is there. The problem with conventional module builders is that they have no way of moving cotton laterally to a centerline." Searcy also is working on development of logistics systems for moving biomass energy crops--primarily crops for cellulosic ethanol conversion. "We have to get a whole lot of material harvested and transported to a central facility that does the conversion," Searcy said. "How do we do that in an efficient manner? A lot of people look at the current systems we have in harvesting and storage of forages for animal feed. Our opinion is those systems will not be suitable for these new uses. We'll have to find new systems to do this." Biofuels research Dr. Ron Yoder, head of the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and his team of researchers are spending lots of time these days on bioprocessing, primarily ethanol production and the production of by-products of ethanol production. "We are also looking at bio-fibers, such as the use of chicken feathers, wheat straw, corn stover, and any other by-product to produce things that are normally petroleum based," Yoder said. Development of conservation tillage and no-till techniques and management systems has been under Yoder's watch at UNL for many years. All are water-saving devices. Now, Yoder is looking at corrective measures to a long-time conservation program--terraces. "There have been many terraces that have been put into place over the years. Now there is concern in Nebraska and Kansas over streamflows. There's a change in the water balance when you install terraces," Yoder said. "We are looking at how that balance occurs and where that water goes. "Depending on the type of terrace, you may be holding that water on a hillside causing it to infiltrate and recharge the groundwater rather than flowing into a stream. People don't have a very good handle on those relative balances. We are beginning some detailed studies on water balance, which is really important when water resources become constrained. If there aren't numbers available, then you can't tell if you have the right answers or not." Remote sensing technology Two scientists, Dr. Raj Khosla, associate professor of soil and crop sciences at Colorado State University, along with Dr. Randy Price, associate professor of biological agricultural engineering at Kansas State University, and their graduate students are conducting research on remote sensing technology. Khosla is working with graduate student Tim Shaver on improving the efficiency of in-season nitrogen application through active sensor management systems. "He's been working with NTech's GreenSeeker and Holland Scientific's Crop Circle canopy sensor," Khosla said. "Tim has done a significant amount of work, testing them under greenhouse conditions and then taking them out into the field after we understood how they worked in a controlled environment. "We conducted lots of treatments in the field, such as a conventional treatment or farmer practice, so we can always relate back to it." He then laid out other treatments that he monitored with the sensors during the crucial growth season, making recommendations off the sensor readings. The conventional reference treatment area Shaver uses for his research is what Khosla calls a "farmer strip." Then there's an area on which has been applied a significant amount of nitrogen called a "happy strip." "So we have a farmer strip that is what a farmer may do and then a happy strip where we've given plenty of nutrition," Khosla said. "Then we look at how the rest of the crop is doing with the question of could we spoon-feed the crop. The idea is to apply the right amount of nitrogen at the right place at the right time. "What Tim has found out is that both sensors do a pretty good job and produce a similar trend in their readings. They both define or pick up differences in growth stage. They pick up NVDI or GNDVI (Normalized Vegetation Difference Index or Green Normalized Vegetation Indices) readings quite well." With natural gas and other input prices being so high and commodity prices down 40 percent or more off their highs, Khosla said it makes very good sense for judicious use of inputs at the right place at the right time in the right amount. For his part, Price and his students are working on better ways to combine these sensors with software, such as remote sensing images. "These (sensors) work well for blanket spraying on wheat," Price said. "Now, we're looking at variable rate spraying if you combined it with other things, like an organic matter map or maps for texture, topography, electrical conductivity (for soil salinity), things like that, as well as base variable rate spraying if you combined those with maps a farmer might currently have." Adding to a farmer's current knowledge base on remote sensing may be difficult, Price said, since the concept has been slow in adoption because it's so hard to gather data. Larry Dreiling can be reached by phone at 785-628-1117 or by e-mail at ldreiling@aol.com.
Date: 11/20/08
Copyright/Privacy
Copyright 1995-2009. High Plains Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Any republishing of these pages, including electronic reproduction of the editorial archives or classified advertising, is strictly prohibited. If you have questions or comments you can reach us at High Plains Journal 1500 E. Wyatt Earp Blvd., P.O. Box 760, Dodge City, KS 67801 or call 1-800-452-7171. Email: webmaster@hpj.com |
Market Snapshot
|
