Progress 05/15/04 to 12/31/05
Outputs
The objective in this project was to develop a method to reduce the cost of producing bluegrass seed crops by eliminating the non-crop production year during the first year of plant establishment. This project developed out of a need to cost effectively produce bluegrass seed without field burning or tillage. A review was completed of existing mechanical transplanter technology to determine if an existing transplanter can be adapted to planting of bluegrass plants in an untilled field with minimal labor. Many devices have been developed and are used extensively for planting various small and starter plants into plowed and prepared fields. However, no transplanters were found that can plant into unplowed, stubble fields and most transplanters were labor intensive in that they require a person to place each plant in the planter. We have completed Phase-I of our project by proving the concept that bluegrass plugs can successfully be planted mechanically. The majority of
the time and effort for phase-I of this project focused on the design, development, manufacturing and assembly of the proof-of-concept bluegrass transplanting machine. As we made progress though phase-I we realized that our emphasis must be on the placement of the sod plugs. A brief summary of the phase-I progress follows: The machine consists of several subassemblies. Each of the subassemblies were designed, assembled and tested separately and then tested as a complete unit. Detail design and drawings (for custom parts) have been produced. A separate detail (manufacturing) drawing or specification was created for each custom part. Selection of off-the-shelf components was accomplished. These components include such items as hydraulic motors, cylinders and accessories, belts, pulleys, bearings, fasteners, clutches, pins, etc. After assembly was complete, the unit was tested as to the workability of the concept. The testing was videotaped to record the actual working of each
subassembly. The Phase-I machine has been designed in a modular fashion such that each planter module will plant one row. Three planter modules are assembled into a standard three-row subassembly. A more commercialized prototype of the machine will be designed later (in Phase-II) that will consist of multiple sets of three-row subassemblies which will be "stacked" side-by-side. For example, a 9-row (6-3/4 feet wide planting width) prototype machine would be essentially comprised of three, three-row subassemblies stacked side-by-side. This design approach will be relatively straight-forward to scale into a larger production unit. This reduces the overall project risk while also minimizing total machine design time. Much of the design work accomplished in phase-I will be leveraged into phase-II.
Impacts
Growers in the State of Washington are no longer able to open-field burn their bluegrass fields. This has required growers to shorten their bluegrass rotation from 8-10 years to 3-4 years. Elimination of the fallow establishment year is essential to maintain bluegrass grown for seed as a viable crop in the Northwest. Our bluegrass sod transplanter will shorten this period between planting and harvest from the traditional 20 months to 9 months, eliminating the need of the fallow year of establishment where no harvest occurs. Under most conditions it is not feasible to recapture the cost of a 20+ month non-productive plant establishment period with 4 or fewer crops. To retain this agricultural sector that brings up to $300,000,000 annually into the national economy, the cost of establishing the bluegrass production field needs to be reduced. The immediate market for the transplanter is bluegrass seed farmers. This initial, primary market includes the dryland
(non-irrigated) bluegrass seed farms in the northwest estimated at 280 farms. The next potential market is the non-irrigated farms raising bluegrass seed throughout North America (estimated at over 600 farms). Another potential market includes companies and organizations responsible for areas where soil erosion is needed rapidly including sites clear-cut in harvesting timber, areas cleared by forest fires, mine restoration sites and construction sites.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 05/15/04 to 12/31/04
Outputs
The majority of the time and effort for phase-I of this project is focused on the design, development, manufacturing and assembly of the proof-of-concept bluegrass transplanting machine. Final stages of this project then focus primarily on field testing of the machine. A brief summary of the phase-I progress follows: Approximately 70% of the machine concept has been developed. The machine consists of several subassemblies. While each of the subassemblies vary somewhat as to development progress, 70% overall concept development is a reasonable estimate. Approximately 20% of the detail design and drawings (for custom parts) have been produced. A separate detail (manufacturing) drawing or specification will be created for each custom part. Approximately 30% of the research and selection of off-the-shelf components has been accomplished. These components include such items as hydraulic motors, cylinders and accessories, belts, pulleys, bearings, fasteners, clutches, pins,
etc. Assembly drawings have been started and are approximately 10% complete. Final copies of these drawings a will be completed primarily near the end of the project as they are needed primarily for final documentation purposes. Preliminary assembly drawings are adequate for design reviews, progress reports and machine assembly tasks. Research and selection of appropriate vendors and manufacturers is ongoing. An internet search was conducted, looking for technology in existing mechanical transplanters that may be incorporated into our proof-of-concept model. Although several ideas were considered and discussed, the design of our proof-of-concept model transplanter is unique. Most existing technology requires tillage ahead of the transplanter unit, while our design will be directly planting sod plugs into undisturbed residue from the previous crop.
Impacts
Growers in the State of Washington are no longer able to open field burn their bluegrass fields. This has required growers to shorten their bluegrass rotation from 8-10 years to 3-4 years. Elimination of the fallow establishment year is essential to maintain bluegrass grown for seed as a viable crop in the Northwest. Once developed, our bluegrass transplanter will allow dryland bluegrass seed growers to stay competitive with other growers as environmental regulations are imposed on them. Our transplanter will enable a grower to plant bluegrass sod plugs directly into the previous year's crop residue without tillage. This will reduce water and wind erosion. The other advantage of planting the bluegrass sod plugs directly is the shortening of the period between planting and harvesting of the first crop for seed. The time period required between the initial planting of a bluegrass seed and the first harvest for seed is at least 16 months. Our bluegrass sod transplanter
will shorten this period between planting and harvest to 9 months, eliminating the need of the fallow year of establishment where no harvest occurs.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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