Optimization of transport support for forage harvesters

Silage is the main type of feed in the diet of cattle. Violation of the agrotechnical terms of laying silos for more than 4 days contributes to a decrease in the quality of grass feed. Therefore, when harvesting silage, it is necessary to form a harvesting and transport complex of technical means that would ensure the timely filling of storage. The forage harvester performs the most energy-intensive operations in the technological process of harvesting feed from grasses. Therefore, the efficiency of the entire technological process depends on the optimal ratio of the number of combines and the vehicles that serve them. To optimize the system “technological machine-vehicles”, it is important to apply the methods of the queuing theory, which takes into account the probabilistic downtime of forage harvesters. The use of this solution method in the formation of a harvesting and transport complex based on a statistical model allows us to ensure the flow of the technological process of delivering grass mass from the field in the storage during the acyclic movement of vehicles. Optimization according to the statistical model helps to reduce the cost of silage production by up to 5% due to a more rational amount of vehicle use.

COMPUTATIONAL TOOL FOR SELECTION AND RANKING OF PULL-TYPE FORAGE HARVESTERS

The variety of forage harvester models available on Brazilian market demand practical tools for selecting and ranking these equipments. The present study aimed at the elaboration of an algorithm capable of providing simple and objective criteria that assist in the decision making. The communication channel of the companies was used to obtain technical specifications and price of the equipment, which were tabulated in spreadsheets. The instructions for the manipulation of the obtained data were elaborated in the software R, being calculated ranks for the following requirements considering simulated information about a farm: price (COT), productivity and price relation (PROD.COT), fuel consumption (CONS), operational comfort (CONF), versatility (VERS) and overall (GERAL). We obtained information from 45 models belonging to 8 companies. The best machine in the overall rank got similar rank in the COT, PROD.COT and CONS ranks and worst rank for CONF. The algorithm established allowed the selection and ranking of the forage harvesters analyzed, providing simple, objective and easily interpreted criteria for the use of the farmers and the technicians who assist them.

The Quality, Intake, and Digestibility of Virginia Fanpetals (Sida hermaphrodita L. Rusby) Silage Produced under Different Technologies and Its Effect on the Performance of Young Cattle

Different harvesting and preservation methods of Virginia fanpetals herbage were evaluated, based on the chemical composition and digestible organic matter (OM) content (D-value) of silage fed to adult sheep, the intake and digestibility of silage, and the performance of young cattle. The following harvesting methods were compared: direct-cut harvesting with a precision-cut forage harvester (DC), harvesting after field wilting with a precision-cut forage harvester (WC) or a round baler (WRB). The silage was fed for 81 days to 24 Polish Holstein Friesian (HF) bulls, as the sole forage supplemented with 3.0 kg of concentrate/head/day. Harvesting methods affected the density (p < 0.001) and water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) content (p = 0.047). Differences were found among the groups in the digestibility coefficients of OM (DC-73.7, WC-78.9, WRB-79.9%) (p = 0.007), and crude protein (CP) (69.8%, 77.1%, 78.5%, respectively) (p < 0.001). Dry matter intake (DMI) reached 8.38 kg (DC), 8.74 kg (WC) and 7.21 kg (WRB). Live weight gain (LWG) differed (p < 0.001) among groups (0.939, 1.033, 0.813 kg/day, respectively). The feed conversion ratio (FCR) tended to improve in WC (8.66 kg DMI/kg LWG) (p = 0.08). The highest-quality silage was produced in group WC, and it could be successfully fed to growing bulls as the sole forage.

Introduction preservatives in silage feed with air

available in liquid, viscous, and powdered form on the market of the Russian Federation, there are certain difficulties with their dosage and uniform distribution in silage feeds. This is especially important for preservatives, which are used in small doses. Abroad, this issue is solved by using applicators which allow to make low doses of preservatives in the range of 125-250 ml/t uniformly [1]. In our country, to increase uniformity of preservatives distribution, water is usually added to a small amount of preservatives and they are applied by column centrifugal or diaphragm pumps at the rate of 3–5 l/t of silage raw material. It is not possible to apply preservatives in pure form with available metering pumps, as they cannot ensure uniformity and small doses of their application. In this regard, the installation for forage harvester for fine-dispersed application of preservatives by compressed air was developed in the Federal Williams Research Center of Forage Production & Agroecology. The results of laboratory studies are presented.

Comprehensive model for predicting the fuel consumption in various harvesting methods of grass silage

Fuel consumption of various forage harvesting methods was assessed with a theoretical calculation model, which was validated with field measurements. The examined harvesting methods were tractor-powered forage harvester (TPFH), self-propelled forage harvester (SPFH), self-loading forage wagon (SLFW), and combined baling and wrapping (CBW). The results from the field measurements indicated that the model was working either well or satisfactorily with the examined methods, apart from the CBW method, which would require redefining the model coefficients. Model sensitivity analysis indicated that variables such as yield level, working width, and transportation distance have a significant effect on fuel consumption. When the working width was increased from 3 m to 9 m, the fuel consumption of the examined methods decreased ca. 54–61%. Increasing the working width by windrowing was found recommended for all examined methods. In all, the most energy-efficient method was SLFW, but it was also most sensitive to transportation distance. With a transportation distance of 10 km, the fuel consumption of the SLFW method was already 9–11 % higher compared to that of TPFH and SPFH methods. The strong effect of these variables may cause a wide variation in the fuel consumption of the examined methods, but the model can be used to standardize this effect. The results from this study can thus be used for approximate estimations of average fuel consumption of the examined forage harvesting methods.

Autonomous Identification and Positioning of Trucks during Collaborative Forage Harvesting

In the process of collaborative operation, the unloading automation of the forage harvester is of great significance to improve harvesting efficiency and reduce labor intensity. However, non-standard transport trucks and unstructured field environments make it extremely difficult to identify and properly position loading containers. In this paper, a global model with three coordinate systems is established to describe a collaborative harvesting system. Then, a method based on depth perception is proposed to dynamically identify and position the truck container, including data preprocessing, point cloud pose transformation based on the singular value decomposition (SVD) algorithm, segmentation and projection of the upper edge, edge lines extraction and corner points positioning based on the Random Sample Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm, and fusion and visualization of results on the depth image. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method has been verified by field experiments with different trucks. The results demonstrated that the identification accuracy of the container region is about 90%, and the absolute error of center point positioning is less than 100 mm. The proposed method is robust to containers with different appearances and provided a methodological reference for dynamic identification and positioning of containers in forage harvesting.

Evaluation of the efficiency of transport services for forage harvesters when harvesting maize for silage in Novosibirsk region

An assessment of the efficiency of the enterprise for harvesting corn for silage through position-ing and monitoring of vehicles was carried out. The calculation of the required power of the forage harvester for the smooth operation of service vehicles, that are responsible for the transportation of green mass, was done. An inconsistency was revealed between the departures of loaded vehicles and the arrivals of empty vehicles. The lack of positioning and monitoring tools negatively affects the productivity of the harvesting and transport process. As a result of the research, it was found that the actual performance of the forage harvester when harvesting maize for silage is significantly lower than the theoretical performance. Through experiments, the downtime of forage harvesters in the field due to improper organization of transport services was revealed. When analyzing the state of the park of forage harvesters and vehicles, the requirements of new approaches in solving transport problems were revealed. These contribute to a radical improvement of the transport process when harvesting silage crops. The obtained calculations and patterns of change in technical and technological parameters can be used for the design of new, special agricultural vehicles, as well as in the harvesting and transport process to determine the required number of transport units, when transporting chopped green mass. On the basis of experimental data the regularities of changes in the volume of the vehicle bed on the mass of the trailer and the dependence of the change in the volume of the vehicle bed on the mass of the trailer during transportation of green mass were ob-tained.

The Mechanical Harvesting of Hemp Using In-Field Stand-Retting: A Simpler Approach Converted to the Production of Fibers for Industrial Use

The mechanical harvesting of hemp is a key step toward a profitable use of the product. Various fractions (fiber, seeds, residual biomass) may be recovered, and their correct management is fundamental for complying with the requirements of processors/end users. In the light of the renewed interest for its industrial use (panels and insulators), this work proposes the use of modified commercial machines to implement a field separation of the fibrous fraction of stand-retted hemp, a practice that would be profitable if realized with the systems adopted for textile use. The present work was conducted to test the efficiency of harvesting partially macerated plants by using a modified self-propelled forage harvester (SPFH). In Northern Italy, a hemp crop was stand-retted for four months. Then, an SPFH—with rotor knives reduced in number from 24 to 12—was used. Stand-retting made it possible to separate cortical fibers from the inner stem cylinder during harvesting; 53.3% of the material (fibers and shives) was separated automatically by the SPFH together with the chopped bast fiber, while the remaining 46.7% was separated on exiting the launch tube. More than 50% of the fibers were shorter than 5 cm in length, while almost 15% were longer than 10 cm. The SPFH had an effective operating speed of 3.48 km h−1, and no clogging occurred during the test. Therefore, the combination of stand-retting with harvesting using a modified SPFH could be helpful in obtaining an early separation of fibers from shives, thus facilitating the product treatment during its subsequent processing, e.g., by enhancing the defibration.

INTELLIGENT SOLUTIONS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MODERN BALING MACHINES

The article shows the role of digital machine technologies used in feed production. The analysis of intelligent solutions used in the designs of modern balers from the world's leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery is carried out. It is noted that electronic systems not only perform information functions during the operation of forage harvesters, but also provide control over the operation of both individual assemblies and systems of balers, and the entire machine-tractor unit. Digital technologies make it possible to optimize the operation of the forage harvester, improve the quality of harvested forage, reduce environmental risks, improve the working conditions of machine operators, as well as increase the attractiveness and prestige of agricultural professions, and attract promising young personnel to agricultural production.