The Rural Voice, 1990-09, Page 24EIGHT GREAT
RESEARCH IDEAS
Agricultural research is a vast, sophisticated industry — though it's also a field that
independent entrepreneurs can also find fertile — and its products come in all
shapes and sizes, from the microscopic to the monolithic. Sometimes the job's not
glamorous, though the results might have a large impact on farming in Canada and
around the world, and sometimes a hot calculation seems to come to a cold and
disappointing zero. But almost invariably something is discovered, even if the results
of a project will bear no immediate commercial fruit. And sometimes in the
laboratories and on the test sites something revolutionary happens. There may even
be an accidental component to a significant success. As Albert Marsolais, a research
associate at the University of Guelph, says: "You start working on one thing with
a certain focus, and discover something that opens up a whole new area." Amber
Underwood has collected progress reports on some of the research projects in the
works. While the selection is not necessarily representative of the scope and variety
of the agricultural research enterprise in Canada, it highlights some of the work of
particular interest to Ontario farmers.
1.
Make hay in the pouring rain
"Make hay while the sun shines" may become a redundant
phrase if Steve Wingard has his way. This South Carolina
farmer is perfecting a prototype that cuts hay, passes it through
high-temperature steel rollers which extract moisture using
pressure and heat, and produces hay ready for immediate
baling.
The original concept was to produce large round bales;
Wingard now focuses on small square bales to meet the
demands of his customers in the horse -feed market.
Although some protein content is lost because of the high
temperatures needed in the process, Wingard claims it's
negligible compared to conventional field drying. Fire has not
been a problem, he adds.
Wingard has patented his machine with the hope of finding
a major manufacturer to license the patent and produce it for
market. The prototype will be assembled this month and then
undergo extensive field tests. The "Once -Over Hay Maker" is
the result of two years of work by Wingard. He funded his own
research.
A similar process is also being tested at Laval University in
co-operation with a Quebec equipment manufacturer. This
version cuts the forage, passes it through several rolls to
macerate it, and then squeezes moisture out under pressure.
The "mat" that is produced then stays in the field for further
drying; it can be baled with a conventional baler modified to
pick it up.
In a wind tunnel test, the hay mat reached a moisture level
of 20 per cent in six to eight hours. Drying time may be more
in the field. The Laval version will be field-tested in 1991, and
could be commercially available in four or five years.0
2.
Blowing in the wind
Picture a giant nylon sheet stretched across your field. Not
a bird, not a plane, it's a new windbreak being studied by
Agriculture Canada scientists at the Lethbridge Research
Station in Alberta.
"We are looking at the ability of this new windbreak to
reduce wind speed and recharge soil moisture," says Dr. Sean
McGinn, agricultural meteorologist. "At the same time, we are
also examining the effect of wind stress on crop yields." Nylon
20 THE RURAL VOICE