Future Meetings & Conferences

 2001 ASAE International Meeting
 Annual Meeting Paper Preparation Authors' Guide

   2001 Specialty Conferences

           Sixth International Livestock Environment Symposium 

This is the first WORLD CONFERENCE ON COMPUTERS IN AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES. It will be held in Iguazu Falls, Brazil on September 19-21, 2001. It is a collaborrative effort among agricultural information technology associations worldwide. This conference provides a forum for agriculture related professionals to exchange information on applications and developments in the use of Information Technologies. Contributions from various countries will allow a broadened perspective for all attending.

SUPPORTING INSTITUTIONS:
Association of Agricultural Computing Companies
American Association of Engineering Societies
Asian Federation of Information Technologies in Agriculture
European Federation of Information Technologies in Agriculture
World Federation of Engineering OrganizationsThe University of Florida

The American Society of Agricultural Engineers is a professional and technical organization dedicated to the advancement of engineering applicable to agricultural, food and biological systems.Agricultural engineering students go on to serve in industry, academia, and public service. They each have broad training in various disciplines including civil, mechanical, chemical, structural, environmental, biological and manufacturing engineering. Agricultural engineers are uniquely qualified to determine and develop more efficient and environmentally sensitive methods of developing new technologies and utilizing current technologies to improve life for an ever-increasing world population. ASAE students are very well equipped to confront the challenges of the future.

Who Will Attend ? Personnel representatives of industries, universities, research companies, government agencies, seeking highly qualified employees in all fields of agricultural and biological engineering

What Will Happen ? Speak with well prepared prospective employees in all areas of Agricultural Engineering. Distribute employment applications, information, accept resume’s.

Where ? Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento, California

When ? Monday, July 30, 2001............. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, July 31, 2001............. Information at booth
Wednesday, August 1, 2001..... Information at booth

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New Research

     Agricultural Safety          ( Agrability, Disabled Farmer Project, Farm Safety ...)

     Offroad Machinery         ( Engine power, tractors, hydraulics, mechatronics ...)

     Pricision Agriculture      ( Sensors, GIS, machine vision ...)

     Post Harvesting             ( about post Harvesting ...)

     Modeling                        ( about Modeling, Analyze ...)

Worldwide Research     ( Download copies of Worldwide research  ...)

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Agricultural Safety

 Robert (Chip) Petrea, (Phd)                                        

The Farm Safety WalkAbout and The Agricultural Safety Survey were utilized by a county committee involved in the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service=s Community Farm Safety and Health Leadership Development Project. The findings from using the instruments are bing used by the Winnebago County Council on Agricultural Safety and Health as an aid in planning intervention activities. The tact of using two random samples allowed advantages over just one sample. In one case, personal delivery of materials allowed committee members to have contact with the target audience. At the same time, this contact allowed local fire departments to make personal contacts in a situation other than an emergency. In the second case, statistical and survey research methodology could be more strictly followed. The random selection of recipients from the same population allowed meaningful comparisons of specific data.

Farm Safety WalkAbout Instrument. This study used a random sample, n=90, selected from the combined, non-duplicating mailing lists of the Winnebago County Farm Bureau and Cooperative Extension Services, N=608. This instrument was personally delivered by member(s) of the Winnebago County Council on Agricultural Safety and Health committee and the local fire department of the survey recipient. Once the random sample was selected the locations were plotted on a county map containing fire district boundaries. Committee members selected certain fire districts and scheduled delivery of the survey materials. The items delivered included the survey instrument; self-addressed, stamped envelope; and a collection of both farm specific and general safety and health related materials. The multi-page instrument contains specific questions with yes-no answers, specific activities related to the questions, and discussion items related to the house, farm and livestock buildings, farm yard, people, machinery, and activities and training for children under age 19, and demographic questions. Procedures for survey follow-up included a two-week reminder postcard, a four-week reminder postcard, and a six-week reminder letter and replacement instrument.

Response rate -- 44.44% (40 useable responses)

Agricultural Safety Survey *

Agricultural Safety Survey. This study used a random sample, n=90, selected from the combined mailing lists of Winnebago County Farm Bureau and Cooperative Extension Service, N=608. This random sample was independent and non-duplicating to the selection used in the Farm Safety WalkAbout survey. Mailed questionnaires were used. This survey assessed the current status in Winnebago county on selected agricultural and family practices. The 45 items surveyed related to specific concerns with farm equipment, agricultural chemicals, animals, emergency preparedness, and intervention suggestions. Survey follow-up procedures included a two-week reminder postcard and a four-week replacement instrument to those that had not responded at that time.

Response rate -- 66.66% (60 useable responses)

*This is an adapted form of the general survey contained in the Farm Safety WalkAbout materials.

Each of the surveys conducted, as described above, have a specific format and question form. However, similar questions are present in each. Similar in this case means that each question, though stated differently, is analogous in the function it performs and is parallel in the purpose for including the question. The questions in the following list are presented as stated in the agricultural safety survey. The percentages for each question are the percent that answered yes to the question in the form it is presented.

Overall Issues of Concern Raised

While much worthwhile data was obtained, several issues stood out as overall issues of concern. These issues are not new, but add to the confirmation that these issues are a needed target for both the general farm safety effort and the specific Winnebago County effort. These general issues of concern are:

Specific conclusions based on the data obtained are:

1. The dual random sampling served the intended purposes to:

   a. Collect meaningful data.

   b. Allow county committee members and fire department personnel to be seen in a personal and proactive way.

2. A perception exists that the Farm Safety WalkAbout is aimed at families with children. This perception was stated both by respondents that completed the WalkAbout instrument and by recipients that returned the instrument unanswered.

3. Little worthwhile data was collected on the hours spent by children in specific farm work situations. Purposive sampling that limits the distribution of the Farm Safety WalkAbout to farm families with children may elicit additional data in this area.

4. The Agricultural Safety Survey and the Farm Safety WalkAbout can provide important data for community group use as an aid in intervention targeting and planning.

Prepared in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Offroad Machinery

Diesel engines supply the power for most of today's heavy equipment and transportation needs. To improve the quality of our air, increasingly strict regulations have been imposed on emissions from these engines. One way to reduce the environmental impact of combustion is to use alternative fuels containing blends of non-petroleum substances such as ethanol. The problem with this approach has been increased cost and loss of engine performance. Newly developed OxyDiesel fuel has the potential to protect the environment while offering enhanced performance and minimal cost increase.

The Ag Engineering Department at the University of Illinois is helping in the development of the new OxyDiesel fuel. Tests will compare the performance of a brand new Cummins diesel engine and Bosch fuel system with standard diesel fuel and OxyDiesel, both before and after a 500 hour durability test.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be testing OxyDiesel for emissions, for comparison with standard diesel fuel as well as other alternative fuels.

The Chicago Transit Authority will be running 15 of their city buses on OxyDiesel, and comparing their performance to 15 more buses operated with the standard diesel fuel.

OxyDiesel = Diesel Fuel + Ethanol + Additive

Pricision Agriculture

Using Sensors To Detect Potentially Hazardous

 Hazardous atmospheres exist in agricultural confined spaces, especially manure storage facilities and silos. Methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, and ammonia can exist in manure storage facilities. High concentrations of methane can be explosive, and hydrogen sulfide can reach life threatening levels in seconds. High carbon dioxide levels indicate low air flow exchange rates which may further indicate an oxygen deficiency. Ammonia irritates the eyes and respiratory tract.Oxides of nitrogen and sulfur dioxide can exist in silos. Of the oxides of nitrogen produced, only nitrogen dioxide and nitrogen tetroxide are medically significant--inhalation can cause sudden death, pulmonary edema, and/or bronchiolitis obliterans. Sulfur dioxide is an irritant.

  Riskowski, et al., explains, Agases, dust particles, odor, and ions in the air have a detrimental effect on workers and animal health and performance. From 1980 through 1989, at least 48 worker deaths have occurred as a result of exposure to high concentrations of toxic gases or low levels of oxygen in these facilities. It is estimated that several thousand workers have suffered chronic and acute health affects from toxic and irritating gases produced within these facilities.Farm animals experience prolonged exposure to lower level pollutants including dust particles that are less than one micron in size. Continual exposure to these hazardous gases can cause stress, loss of appetite, and even death. Various acute and chronic diseases, including but not limited to contagious respiratory diseases, can be initiated by exposure to air pollutants or aggravated by them. Such gaseous and particulate stressors on confined animals can lead to increased production costs to farmers. Higher veterinary costs, higher mortality throughout the production cycle, decreased feed efficiency, more days to raise a market animal to the target weight for slaughter, and lower quality carcasses delivered to the packer are all production costs that are passed onto the consumer.It seems obvious from the above discussion that the ability to identify and measure toxic, combustible, and oxygen-deficient atmospheres is very important for the safety and health of farmers and farm animals and for the economic well-being of the Nation. Monitoring of such atmospheres should detect whether or not hazardous gases exist, what hazardous gases exist, at what levels they exist, and whether there is adequate oxygen.The question, AWhat gas detection instrument should be used in hazardous atmospheres in production agriculture is not phrased properly. The question should be, AIn what potentially hazardous atmospheres (locations) will the person be working? Different locations require different types of gas detection instruments and different precautions.

One instrument that is capable of detecting several different gases in multiple farm environments make the most sense for farm production workers. Solid-state sensors are potential solutions to identifying and monitoring hazardous atmospheres. Solid-state sensors are low cost, and they have potential for use in multi-gas monitors for agriculture. From what is known of sensor systems today, personal gas protection multi-gas monitors capable of monitoring continuously for several different gases are the detection instrument of choice, and they are already available commercially.The caveat to this seemingly ready made solution is that these sensors and monitoring instruments have been developed for use in other fields. While they hold promise for use in agricultural hazardous atmospheres, the have not be tested for such a purpose. To operate in strenuous agricultural environments that are unlike other known environments, any modified sensor system must adhere to the requirements discussed on page 16 of this report. They also must be evaluated to determine: (1) the effects of different gases in the same atmosphere on different sensors; (2) the interference of one sensor with another in providing fast readings: (3) assurance of accurate and reliable readings; (4) the effect of dust as an interferant on sensors; (5) how sealing the instrument from dust may affect its ability to obtaining and accurate and reliable reading, and (6) frequency of sensor re-calibration and/or replacement in multiple gas atmospheres.In hopes that manufacturers would be interested in testing commercially available systems, the authors of this report have discussed the environmental conditions under which the sensor(s) must operate in agricultural environments. The report includes discussions on current sensor technologies and their advantages and disadvantages in identifying and monitoring toxic and combustible gases in agricultural environments. The authors also identified four emerging technologies that hold potential for identifying, measuring, and monitoring hazardous atmospheres in production agriculture. The following should be investigated further: Fiber Optic Raman Scattering instrument; AArtificial Nose; Gas Microsensor Arrays; and the Trace Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide Sensor.

Prepared in Cooperation with the National Agricultural Lib & University of Illinois

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 Post Harvesting

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Modeling

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Worldwide Research

Mechanization of Tea
T. B. Russell
Boh Plantation Sdn Bhd
Bukit Cheeding Packing Factory
Batu 6, Jl Kg Seri Cheeding
42700 Banting, Selangor DE

Abstract :
An outline is given of progress in tea cultivation, processing and packing in the last quarter of the twentieth century, at Boh Plantations, Malaysia's leading tea producer.  Vertical integration and mechanization enabled the company to stay competitive through a period of chronic labour shortage and despite being in a  relatively high wage economy compared with most tea-producing countries.  Labour productivity has  improved dramatically.
Greater progress has been made in the lowlands where plucking, pruning, fertilizer application and weed control are almost fully mechanized; tea nursery/planting and root disease control are remaining manual operation.
The current research focus is on mechanization on field operations in the highlands.  An airstrip has been built at Boh for aerial fertilizer application on all three highland estates.  Steep terrain precludes the use of self-propelled machinery in the highland fields.  Tea is plucked either with shear or Japanese tea harvester; winches are now being introduced to assist plucking on steep slopes and the evacuation of bags of leaf.
Three new factories have been built, incorporating a number of changes in processing and reducing labour requirement.  From a packing shed where tea was packed by hand, except for one teabag machine, almost all product are now packed by machine in a new packing factory opened in 1996.

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Newsletter January 1998

On 1st December Chris Tyler talked to us about tea production. No we are not diversifying into tea because of the poor prices we are currently getting for our wheat but it is always interesting to hear about different crops even though we will not be growing them ourselves.

Until his retirement Chris worked for Unilever who produce a vast quantity of tea world-wide. On their plantations they employ 80,000 people which meant that with their dependants the were responsible for about 1/4 million people in many different countries such as Ceylon, Java, Malawi and others. He told us about the basic agronomy of growing tea, and how it was all hand picked. A quick tea plucker can pick 50 kg of leaves a day. This does not sound much but 1 kg consists of about 1000 shoots and each is individually picked - that makes 50,000 of hand and wrist movements - it is a good job they havenĺt heard about R.S.I. Although tea is totally different to the crops that we grow there are many similarities. The one that struck me was the advances over the last 40 years that have increased yield form 600 kg of dry tea per Hectare to 4 tones per hectare today. This in turn has changed something which was very valuable into a cheap commodity.

This links in with the second part of the talk which was about the history of tea. We were told very interesting stories which started 5000 years ago and involved tea smuggling, the growing of opium to trade for tea in China, the opium wars with China, and the use of fine Chinese porcelain as ballast in the ships. When tea first arrived in this country it was traded at ú10 per pound which was equivalent to a good annual wage for a man at the time. In 1997 tea traded at ú1 per Kg (45 pence per pound) and I will leave you to compare that with what is good annual wage for a man today.

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The Formation of a Consumer Ethos in the Rural Midwest

By 1850, the merger of scientific farming with the agricultural press created a powerful scripture for the evolving Midwestern economy. When taken in conjunction with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of new migrants and the realization of mechanized farming, the era took on the feel of a movement. The backbone of the crusade was the judicious evaluation, purchase, and use of modern agricultural machinery. The emergence of a staple crop agriculture led to a standardization of the technology with which to process the crops, cook the food, and market the surplus. Propelled by the growing demand of wheat, corn, and hay, farmers turned to machinery that predictably and steadily increased yields. Yet, as already noted, commercial farmers were not encouraged by the market to innovate with untried equipment. Those who attempted to change technologies gambled with their very livelihood in the event of failure. Farmers sought information in periodicals to temper this risk.

Harvest festival
Eco-friendly harvesting techniques and ethics

Harvesting tea tree oil used to be an entirely manual affair, as the swampy ground favoured by the Melaleuca alternifolia made the use of heavy machinery difficult. However, the high expense of such a labour-intensive system made it unpopular, and this led to the establishment of commercial tea tree plantations.

The most successful tea tree companies now operate wholly mechanized harvesting and distilling. The oil is found within cells of the leaves, so foliage is cut by a heavy-duty foliage harvester, and fed directly into a mobile vat which is towed to the distillery when full. The vat is then sealed with a lid and connected to a condenser, and steam from a boiler is passed through the tea tree foliage. Distillation is normally complete within two hours.

In the true spirit of recycling, part of the leaf matter remaining after distillation is used as fuel for the boiler, and the rest is spread on harvested areas as mulch to enable residual nutrients to return to the soil.

A 400 hectare plantation would produce an average of 200 kg of oil per day.

The tea tree grows extremely fast, and foliage growth is fully regenerated within approximately two years. The tea tree industry has now planted or saved an estimated fifty million trees, and superior plantations pride themselves on chemical-free weed control.

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do you know ?

Agricultural Value-added Engineering Centre (AVEC)

The goal of the Agricultural Value-added Engineering Centre (AVEC) is to help meet the engineering-related needs of Alberta's growing agricultural value-added processing industry. Since its launch in 1997, AVEC has been undertaking applied engineering research, providing information and the transfer of skills and technologies. AVEC is now part of the Food Processing Development Centre and this new structure will facilitate the expansion of services which may involve product development for industrial uses of agricultural materials as well as agricultural waste and by-product utilization.

AVEC conducts research and development and technology transfer projects aimed at solving problems related to agricultural value-added processing. Our expertise includes postharvest handling; storage and drying of agricultural crops; design and layout of processing plants; processing equipment design and development; food process engineering; essential oil extraction; sensors and instrumentation; physical properties of agricultural and food materials; environmental control for processing plants; waste and by-product utilization; and product development from agricultural materials for industrial applications. Research and development and technology transfer projects include storage studies of sugar beets and temperature monitoring of sugar beet piles; particulate matter reduction in alfalfa dehydration plants and seed cleaning plants; and heat disinfestation protocol for compressed hay bales among others. AVEC also assists clients in technology transfer related to value-added process engineering. To protect and respect the interests of its clients, AVEC holds all of its client services in strict confidence.

AVEC offers technical and information services. It has a resource centre which can be used by clients to obtain technical and engineering-related information from hard copy materials or through computer searches. The in-house library maintains commercial literature and company brochures; books on value-added processing and engineering; and world wide web (WWW) bookmarks to access internet sites of institutions, organizations and companies. AVEC staff can provide counseling to processors and farmers on all aspects of agricultural processing (food and non-food), including engineering issues.

Equipment :

Laboratory :

Instrumentation :

Pilot Plant :

Technical Reports and Papers :

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New Publication

E. McKyes, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Macdonald College of McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada

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J.Y. Wong, Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Description

The computer-aided methods presented in this book represent recent advances in the methodology for predicting and evaluating off-road vehicle performance. The mathematical models established for vehicle-terrain systems will enable the engineering practitioner to evaluate, on a rational basis, a wide range of options and to select an appropriate vehicle configuration for a given mission and environment. The models take into account all major design and operational parameters, as well as pertinent terrain characteristics. Applications of the computer-aided engineering methods to the parametric analysis of off-road vehicle design are demonstrated through examples.

Contents

Nomenclature.

1. Introduction.
Role of terramechanics.
Some basic issues in terramechanics.
Approaches to terramechanics.

2. Measurement of Terrain Behavior.
Cone penetrometer technique.
Bevameter technique.

3. Characterization of the Response of Terrains to Normal and Repetitive Loadings.
Response of mineral terrains.
Response of muskegs.
Response of snow covers.

4.  Characterization of the Shearing Behavior of Terrains.
Characterization of the shear stress-displacement relationships.
Shearing behavior of various types of terrain.
Behavior of terrain under repetitive shear loading.

5. Methods for Predicting and Evaluating Tracked Vehicle Performance.
Empirical methods.
Theoretical methods.
Methods for parametric analysis.

6. Computer-Aided Methods for Evaluating Tracked Vehicle Performance.
Approach to the prediction of normal pressure distribution under a track.
The shape of the deflected track.
Prediction of shear stress distribution under a track.
Effects of shear stresses on the normal pressure distribution.
Prediction of motion resistance and drawbar pull.
Experimental substantiation.
Comparison of predictions with experimental results.

7. Applications of the Computer-Aided Method to the Parametric Analysis of Tracked Vehicle Design and Performance.
Effects of track system configuration on tractive performance.
Effects on suspension characteristics on tractive performance.
Effects of initial tack tension on tractive performance.
Effects of vehicle weight on tractive performance.
Effects of the location of the centre of gravity on tractive performance.
Effects of vehicle ground clearance on tractive performance.
Effects of sprocket location on tractive performance.
Discussions.
8. Methods for Predicting and Evaluating Wheeled Vehicle Performance.
Empirical methods.
Theoretical methods.
Semi-empirical methods developed by Bekker.

9. Developments in the Methods for Predicting the Performance of Tires and Wheeled Vehicles.
Computer-aided method for evaluating the performance of tires.
Computer-aided method for evaluating the performance of wheeled vehicles.
Applications of the computer-aided method for parametric evaluation of wheeled vehicle performance.
Applications of the finite element technique to tire modelling in the analysis of tire-terrain interaction.
References.
Index.

Bibliographic and Ordering Information

For information about conditions of sale, ordering procedures, and links to our regional sales offices, please read through our ordering information.

Edited by

R.M. Peart, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Gainsville, FL, USA,
R.C. Brook, Agricultural Engineering Department, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

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Last modified: 06-10-2001