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January 1999

SPOTLIGHT...by Bill Bickert

· Our challenge is tomake sure our newsletter efforts are geared to providing information on issuesrather than grinding out a regular newsletter.

· We have an opportunityto highlight departmental research and education activities.

· We must provideinformation, directed at producers and other clientele, that can be used toanswer specific questions and bring attention to timely issues.

We thank each of you who responded to our "quick anddirty" survey. Please feel free to suggest topics of relevance and interestfor an upcoming issue of our newsletter. We want this effort to be of use to youand to your clientele. So please let us hear from you as we strive forimprovement.

Agricultural Engineering Extension Specialists

The National Potato Anti-Bruise Committee has released andrevised an updated edition of the bulletin "Preventing Potato BruiseDamage". The purpose of the publication is to review for growers what theycan do to reduce bruise damage, estimated to cost the U.S. potato industrynearly$300 million annually.

* Types of Bruise
* Bruise Prevention before Harvest
* Bruise Prevention at Harvest
* Bruise Prevention in Potato Piling
* Reducing Effects of Bruising
* Bruise Prevention in the Warehouse
* Bruise Detection Methods
* Education
* Sources of Additional Information

Copies of this 11-page bulletin can be ordered from:Agricultural Publications, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-2240. Cost is$2.00 each.

I am willing to supply a copy to any Extension staff memberwho wants one. I am working with the Michigan Potato Industry Commission to getcopies for, or made available to, Michigan potato growers. Please email me at:brook@ msue.msu.edu to request a copyfor your files.

Roger Brook

The Agricultural Engineering Department and the PrecisionAgriculture Group of the Field Crops AoE is sponsoring an in-service trainingactivity on February 22 and 23 for Extension staff. The goal is to provideinformation and training experiences on the state of the art in precision agtechnology, assessing soil variability, basics of remote sensing (with realexamples), GPS hands-on training yield map interpretation and what's availablein precision agriculture software.

Register for Course 340 on the CEENet in-service registrationsystem, or contact Roger Brook at brook@msue.msu.eduto indicate your intention to attend. Pre-registered staff will receive acopy of the book "The Precision Farming Guide for Agriculturists (the nutsand bolts guide to getting up to speed fastand effectively with this exciting new management tool)". Coffee breaks andlunch both Monday and Tuesday provided.

Monday, Feb. 22

State of the Art in Precision Ag Technology - RogerBrook and Tim Harrigan

Of Yield Monitors and Production Variability - FranPierce

Basics of Remote Sensing SDave Lusch, MSU Center for Remote Sensing &GIS

Examples of Remote Images & GroundTruthing - Dave Lusch & Jim Speakerman, Grower Services

Hands On GPS for Plot Layout and Marking - DaveLusch

Tuesday, Feb. 23

Yield Map Interpretation Training using Univ. MinnesotaSoftware S Ron Olsen and SteveSeamon, IMC

Precision Ag Software Review SRoger Brook and Rich Hodupp

Roger Brook

Clay lined earthen manure storages are attractivealternatives for manure storage containers on an initial cost basis. Aslivestock facilities come under increased scrutiny, there will be an increasingneed to demonstrate and document that the environment is protected. But be awarethat soil material that is informally classified as clay may oftentimes be silt.Silt is not a good sealer to prevent liquid leakage from manure storages. A soilanalysis by a qualified soils laboratory is the best way to distinguish siltfrom clay. However some "feel" methods can provide some clues. Wetclay soil will be sticky and will leave stains on your fingers. When pressedbetween thumb and forefinger, clay soils will form a long continuous ribbon.Silty soils will not. They may begin to form a

ribbon but will break apart in small pieces. Dry silty soils will have afloury or talcum-powder feel. During construction of an earthen manure storage,walk around and feel the soil to get some idea about whether the liner materialis clay or silt. If there are any questions in your mind have the soil tested.Ask for an Atterberg test from soil engineers who have laboratory facilities.This test measures the moisture content at which soil demonstrates liquidproperties and the moisture content where it loses its plastic characteristics(where a c of an inch cylinder will nolonger stay together). The difference in moisture content is the "plasticindex" (PI). NRCS standards suggest the PI should be above 10.

Howard Person

AEIS 657 summarizes the results of a sugarbeet tillage andplanting trial at the Innovative Farmers site in Huron county in 1998. Threeseedbed tillage methods and two types of planters were compared. The plantersincluded a general purpose planter commonly used for corn and soybeans and aprecision vegetable seeder. While there were no practical differences in yielddue to seedbed tillage,

selection of the precision seeder increased plant stand by46%, decreased the number of double seed drops and skips, provided a smaller,more uniform size of beet with a higher sugar content and increased beet yieldby more than two tons per acre. Additional work is planned to better define themain effects and interaction of tillage and planter selection on beet yield andprofitability.

Tim Harrigan

Bill Bickert

During ANR Week 1999, the Agricultural Engineering Departmentand the Precision Farming Group of the Field Crops AoE Team will be sponsoringthe following program. Please talk this up with people in your area andencourage them to attend.

Tuesday, March 11, 1999; 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
International Center, Spartan Room B/C
Learn from experienced speakers about technologies and strategies for assessingsoil variability for application in a precision farming system in Michigan.

What Should You Know About Soils and Plant Productivity?- Dr. Richard Harwood, MSU
Presents an overview of soils and fertility and how they relate to plantproductivity, including soils as a landscape feature, important soilcharacteristics that govern plant development, and essential nutritionalelements for plant growth.

Grid Sampling SWhat Have We Learned? - Joe Nester, Nester Ag Management, OH
Reviews current practices in grid sampling, lessons learned from farmerexperience and research on grid size and how that relates to variations infertility for Michigan soils.

Current and Future Sensing Technology for Mapping Soils SKen Sudduth, USDA-Missouri
Reviews technologies that are currently available for sensing soilproperties, including a discussion of how they work and the relation-ship of thedata with important soil properties.

Is The Internet a Goldmine for Soils Information? - ElaineBrown, MSU
Reviews currently available web sites that provide information resourcesabout soils, including digitized soil maps, drainage and other topographicalresources and interactions between soils and agricultural chemicals.

Remote Sensing of Bare SoilSAn Eye in the Sky - EMERGE, Grower Service Corp.
Images from satellites and aerial photographs may allow precision farmers toview soil differences across a field. The basics of remote sensing technologies,how soils interact with light energy and examples of remote sensing of baresoils for use in precision farming.

How Do I Use This Soils Data for Precision Farming? -Dave Franzen, N.D. State University
The concept of management zones incorporates the knowledge gained from soilsurveys, topography and landscape position, aerial photographs, yield maps andfield history to defines areas of the field that are similar in productivity andcan be managed as a unit. Non-grid soil sampling.

Roger Brook

Small Wind Energy Systems for the Homeowner
http://www.dulley.com/e012.htm
Publication explains the benefits of wind power, helps you assess yourwind resource and possible sites, discusses legal and environmental obstaclesand analyzes economic considerations.

Guided Tour on Wind Energy
http://www.windpower.dk/tour/
Nine independent study units on wind energy. After the introduction,start with the section on Wind Energy Resources, it makes it much easier tounderstand the other sections.

National Wind Technology Center
http://www.nrel.gov/wind/
The National Wind Technology Center is designed not only to be a centerfor research, but a technology magnet for a new industry

Wind Energy Links
http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/sme/ppa/wind/linkmenu.html
This list of links includes everything of general interest (updatedSeptember 1997). The list of sources should provide a good introduction to thecurrent application of wind energy.

American Wind Energy Association
ttp://www.igc.org/awea/
Since 1974 the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has advocated thedevelopment of wind energy as an energy alternative in the U.S. and around theworld.

Wind Energy Program, U.S. Dept. Energy
http://www.igc.org/awea/
Information on wind turbine applications (small-scale and utilityscale); a collection of wind turbine pictures, wind resource maps, data,documentation and links to other wind sites.

Wind Energy Profile
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/renewable.energy.annual/chap05.html
A review (April 1997) of wind energy in the U.S., including adiscussion of the role of government, technology and ownership issues. A chapterin the report Renewable Energy Annual 1996 by the Energy InformationAdministration, U.S. Department of Energy.

Wind Energy Technology
http://www.sandia.gov/Renewable_Energy/wind_energy/homepage.html
The Wind Energy Technology effort at Sandia National Lab seeks to developknowledge and tools to address critical technology issues affecting thecommercialization of wind energy.

Wind Energy Comes of Age  
http://rotor.fb12.tu-berlin.de/gwindenergy.html
"Wind Energy Comes of Age" by Paul Gipe chronicleswind energy's progress to its maturation on the plains of northern Europe in the1990s. Contends that wind energy has come of age as a commercial technology forgenerating electricity.

Landowner's Guide to Wind Energy In the Upper Midwest
http://www.me3.org/issues/wind/iwlaguid.html
How landowners can evaluate their wind resources, how they can evaluatethe economics of wind power under a variety of development scenarios and thecontractual issues a landowner should consider when approached by a winddeveloper.

Roger Brook — Neither I nor Michigan State Universityendorse these sites or the
information content.

Farmer killed after an electrical shock and falling off amalfunctioning irrigation system on July 11, 1998 in St Joseph Countyaccording to information supplied by the county central dispatch.

The 53-year-old farmer was apparently working on the irrigation system withhis wife using two-way radios for communication. She was at the power supply, hewas at the other end of the irrigation system. Apparently his fingers contactedsome voltage which traveled from his fingers and exited his chest. It appearsthat the farmer fell from the top of the irrigation system after being shockedand landed on the ground right in front of the back tire of the irrigation drivewheel. According to the family doctor and evidence at the scene, the cause ofdeath was apparently electrocution.

SAFETY TIP: Maintenance of elevated equipment may require a working platformor ladder to offer adequate secure footing and the ability to work on theequipment without fatigue or overreaching which could cause loss of balance.Electrical devices should be locked in the off position or an electricaldisconnect at the point of repair should be utilized.

Howard Doss

The information to date indicates the following Michigantraumatic agricultural deaths:

- 56 Year Old Killed w/Backhoe-Trench Collapse , Oct 19
- 55 Year Old Dies After Exposure in Silo, September 26
- 68 Year Old Killed Falling Off Tractor on September 23
- 76 Year Old Killed After Falling Off Tractor, Sept
- 09 Year Old Killed Falling Off Van, Fruit Farm on July 28
- 02 Year Old Killed After Falling Off Tractor on July 13
- 32 Year Old Killed When Run Over- Bale Wagon July 31
- 53 Year Old Killed When Electrocuted- Irrigation July 11
- 26 Year Old Killed In Skid -Steer Loader on June 11
- 30 Year Old Killed in PTO/ Manure Spreader- March 13

Please send or fax the details of other deaths. Sending farminjury news clippings and reports to me will increase the Michigan farm safetydata accuracy. High-risk work activities can then be identified and current farmoperation hazard warnings can be issued. Your news clippings and fax or emailreports are needed to keep the agricultural industry’s risk assessment currentas only paid employees are reported in Michigan governmental statistics. Familyor owner/operator farm workers are the majority of Michigan’s farm laborforce. MSU Extension is the only source for such statistics with your help.

Howard Doss

— Wrap up 424 feet of shoe lace in one minute at 540 revolutions per minute (rpm) or 785 feet of shoe lace at 1,000 rpm.
— Wrap your arm or leg around the PTO driveline nine times in one second at 540 rpm, or nearly 16 times in one second at 1,000 rpm.
— Produce second degree burns on your skin, even if you’re lucky enough that the PTO strips only the cotton clothing from your body. 
   Worse yet, nylon and other synthetics will cut into skin and muscle tissue, rather than rub across it.
— Grind away skin, muscles, tendons and break bones in less than ¾ of one second when you are caught by an unshielded PTO
   driveline.     
— Deliver nearly all of a tractor’s horsepower to the driveline. A very strong man can generate about ¾ of one horsepower. There is 
   simply no contest; even between a very strong man and a PTO driveline –the machine always wins.

Howard Doss

Agricultural Engineering Extension Faculty

William G. Bickert. Livestock Facilities andEnvironment.
Roger C. Brook. Handling, Storage and Drying of Agricultural Products;Computer Applications in Agriculture.
Howard J. Doss. Safety Leader for Michigan Cooperative Extension Service;Agricultural Safety Specialist.
Daniel E. Guyer. Post-Harvest Storage and Handling and Value-AddedProcesses for Fruit and Vegetables; Machine Vision and Pattern Recognition.
Timothy M. Harrigan. Forage and Field Crop Power and Machinery. Ag ExpoChairman.
Richard L. Ledebuhr. Fruit and Vegetable Mechanization. Chemicalapplication equipment.
Theodore L. Loudon. On-Site Wastewater Treatment; Agricultural WaterQuality Impacts; Irrigation; Drainage; Livestock Waste.
Howard L. Person. Livestock Facilities; Environmental Control; ManagementOf Manure and Organic Residues.
Robert D. von Bernuth. Irrigation and Water Management; Coordinator,Animal Waste Management Programs. 

Nancy Aitcheson - Plan ServiceSecretary, Co-Editor
William Bickert - Extension Agricultural Engineer, Co-Editor