Recipient Organization
LAND INSTITUTE, THE
2440 E WATER WELL RD
SALINA,KS 674019051
Performing Department
Perennial Legumes
Non Technical Summary
Crop diversification and increased use of perennials, particularly alfalfa, within farmer fields are key to the sustainable intensification of US agricultural. Many farmers are interested in trying alternative practices such as dual purpose grain and forage intercropping to increase crop diversity on their farm and reduce their reliance on N fertilizers. However, management complexity of intercropping, combined with the challenge of "valuing" the multifunctionality and ecosystem services intercropping provides, has limited its adoption in mainstream agriculture. This proposal addresses those constraints by engineering an inter-row header (IRH) that attaches to existing self-propelled forage harvesters to cut and harvest cover crops (i.e. alfalfa) intercropped between rows of cash grain crops. The IRH provides an easily adoptable management solution for farmers to reduce competition between alfalfa and grain crops at critical growth stages while simultaneously harvesting alfalfa as a saleable forage. Trials of alfalfa-corn and alfalfa-intermediate wheatgrass (IWG) intercrops will be used to test the IRH performance and quantify the yields IRH managed alfalfa-grain systems provide. Additionally, the IRH will be tested at field scale in existing alfalfa-IWG farmer fields in Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to demonstrate its utility and receive farmer/industry feedback. Harvesting these farmer fields will occur in conjunction with field days and outreach activities in all three states. Ultimately, by providing farmers with efficient mechanized equipment like the IRH for grain-forage intercrops could increase adoption of those systems, decrease the ecological footprint of US agriculture, and increase the acreage planted to alfalfa on US landscapes.
Animal Health Component
10%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
10%
Developmental
90%
Goals / Objectives
This proposal falls under program "Agriculture Systems and Technology" priority area "Engineering for Agricultural Production Systems." The major goal of this project is to develop an inter-row harvester (IRH) that has the potential to increase the use of alfalfa and other forages or cover crops as an intercrop with corn, the new perennial grain Kernza, or other commodity grains thereby increasing continuous living cover and perennial cropping systems on US agricultural landscapes. The IRH would be a row-indepdent header attachment for existing forage harvesters. While designed for harvesting alfalfa, the IRH is also expected to be useful for intercrops that employ other forage legumes or cover crops. Accordingly, this project's objectives are:RH Development: Design, fabricate, and test an IRH concept machine.IRH Multi-institutional Testing: field testing, revisions, and modifications.IRH Field Scale Testing: on farm IRH testing, farmer perspectives, and data dissemination.
Project Methods
Objective 1: IRH Development: Design, fabricate, and test an IRH concept machineKey Personnel: Schlautman and Clark1.1. Design an Inter-row Forage HarvesterAn inter-row forage harvester (IRH) will be designed that demonstrates the potential for harvesting alfalfa or other forage or cover crops planted between 30 inch rows of cash grain crops. In addition to being a commercial scale concept machine, this unit will include components that will help identify and revise the limitations of the initial design for adoption in commercial agriculture as well as will facilitate future research of dual-purpose forage and grain intercropping systems. Specifically the IRH will consist of a self-propelled forage harvester (SPFH), an engineered and fabricated forage header, and an engineered and fabricated rear hopper system for weighing harvested material from research plots in future objectives.The IRH will incorporate features that currently exist in modern machinery, but that will be used in new configurations to achieve the following product objectives:IRH must be self-propelledIRH must harvest rows of alfalfa or other forage/cover crops planted between 30 inch rows of grain crops without damaging the grain crop.Each row harvesting unit must float independently to adjust to the contour of the groundRow units must use a flail for efficient harvesting of the alfalfaCut height must be adjustable at each row unit independentlyRow units must feed cut material evenly to the cross auger for proper crop flowThe IRH concept machine must be optimized for shipping and transport between research testing sites. Specifically, it must fit completely on a single semi trailer.The IRH must have an overall product life of at least 1000 hours .d.1.2. Fabricating the IRHA used John Deere 5400 SPFH will be the base machine for the IRH. A rear hopper system with load cells will be fabricated that can be attached to the JD 5400 SPFH that holds approximately ½ ton of cut material. The hopper will allow sampling and weighing material for initial IRH testing and in small plot level for measuring forage yields in this study and in future grain-forage intercropping research. The rear hopper will be fabricated using modifications from previous designs used in research forage harvesters engineered and built by Co-PD Randy Clark and RCI Engineering. The hopper will be constructed to be easily removed from the SPFH to allow on-farm, field-scale testing and use cutting and directing biomass from the chute into a silage wagon or truck pulled behind or alongside the machine.A header will be engineered and fabricated that fits the JD 5400 and includes four independently floating row units to harvest four rows of forage. Each row unit will use a flail for harvesting the cover crop and feed the crop to a cross auger that will carry the harvested material to the center of the machine so it can be transported to the rear hopper. The four row units will be independently adjustable with cutting heights ranging from 0" to 6" (Figure 5). A provisional patent for the IRH will be filed after the 3D modeling is completed and while the initial IRH machine is being built. The IRH concept machine (including the SPFH, the rear hopper, and the header) will be engineered and fabricated.Objective 2 IRH Testing: field testing, revisions, and modifications.Key Personnel: Schlautman, Clark, Crews, Jungers, Picasso, and Sheafferd.2.1 IRH initial field testingResearch plots for initial testing of the IRH will be established at the University of Wisconsin (UW) Arlington Agricultural Research Station. There will be two treatments: corn-alfalfa and IWG-alfalfa intercrops. The treatments will be replicated three times and planted in a randomized complete block design. Each plot will be 30ft wide x 200ft long with 11 rows of corn or IWG. There will be three rows of alfalfa (7.5 inch rows) planted between each pair of corn or IWG rows. The IWG-alfalfa plots will be established in the fall of 2020 using a no-till drill with 7.5 inch row spacing. The alfalfa in the corn-alfalfa plots will be established in the fall of 2019 with the same no-till drill, and the corn will be planted in the spring of 2021 on 30 inch rows.The alfalfa in the corn-alfalfa and IWG-alfalfa plots at the Arlington Research Station will be harvested with the IRH concept machine multiple time periods during 2021. The IRH concept machine will be evaluated in these tests for its ability to meet the following deliverables:Harvest the alfalfa at a minimum speed of 3 mphAccurately maintain cut height for the full length of the plotTransport cut material to rear hopper without leaving residue in rowsMinimize damage to the maize and IWG rowsAllow for the encounter of obstructions, such as stones, without sustaining major damageBe easily transported and set up for field operations in less than 1 hour.Revisions and new fabrications will be made to the IRH concept machine in the winter of 2021-2022 to meet the performance objectives. New performance objectives may developed based on these initial tests. A non-provisional patent will be filed after the 2020 testing and revisions. The final unit is expected to be completed for research and agricultural use in the spring of 2022 for the remaining growing season of the project proposal.d.3 Objective 3 IRH Field Scale Testing: on farm IRH testing, farmer perspectives, and data disseminationKey Personnel: Schlautman, Clark, Crews, Jungers, Picasso, and Sheafferd.3.1 Testing the IRH on field-scale farmer fields + documenting farmer perceptions of the IRHOur research team received funding through a NCR-SARE Project (2018-38640-28416) to begin developing a network of several growers that are interested in planting and learning about grain-legume intercrops in the US. We plan to utilize this developing grower network to perform on-farm research and testing of the IRH. Specifically, two farmers from each state - Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin - will be planting multiple acres of IWG-alfalfa on their farms in the fall of 2019 with funding support from SARE. A fully functional IRH will be transported to at least one farmer field in each state at least one time in the 2022 growing season to cut and harvest the alfalfa growing between rows of IWG in their fields. We expect these field tests will fill important knowledge gaps about the in field management, collection, and transport of the harvested forage/biomass at a commercial scale. Furthermore, we expect these farmers can help identify limitations to the IRH's functionality, improve its design, and its transfer to and adoption by producers in the industry.d.3.2 Extension and education programming effortsA comprehensive extension and education program will be developed and coordinated by Craig Sheaffer, in collaboration with a UMN outreach specialist and other Co-PDs, that will be available to a diverse group of stakeholders: (i) plant breeders and agronomists from public and private sectors, (ii) farmers and crop advisors, and (iii) extension educators and consultants. Three summer field days will be held in 2022 in conjunction with planned IRH harvest/testing events on farmer fields in Kansas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The field days will be advertised through the SARE grower network and multiple other formats on the following organization's websites and/or newsletters: National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance, Midwest Forage Association, American Forage and Grasslands Council, the Progressive Forage Grower magazine, and UMN, The Land Institute, and Wisconsin Extension Forage, to encourage participation from all stakeholders. At these field days, we will have IRH demonstrations, describe the benefits of the IRH, solicit feedback from growers on functionality, and disseminate findings from our studies about the economic and environmental impacts of grain-forage intercropping.