The Rural Voice, 2003-03, Page 50The Ieadinq edge
McLeod Harvester cutting costs
After five years of refinement and
a $5 million investment, the
revolutionary McLeod Harvester is
showing the potential to save money
for farmers, according to University
of Manitoba researchers.
The harvester, created by Bob
McLeod, a Manitoba economist,
businessman and company president,
splits up the work of a conventional
combine harvester with the aim of
doing a better, and more economical
job. A field harvester, drawn by a 160
hp. plus tractor, strips seed, chaff and
weed seeds off the straw of a cereal
grain, discharging only clean straw
out the back. The rest, called "graff'
and which includes grain, weed seeds,
chaff and under -sized kernels is put
into a 780 bushel hopper. The "graff'
of barley is about double the volume
of seed from a combine but wheat
may have three times the volume to
be trucked away.
The second part of the harvesting
system is an electrically -powered,
stationary mill that sits in the grain
bin storage area. The mill separates
the grain from the graff material,
sending the grain up an auger to the
bin. But the big advance over a
combine is what it does with what's
left: the small seeds, weed seeds and
chaff. These are crushed and turned
into harmless millings that can be fed
to livestock. The mill can operate
without human supervision.
University of Manitoba crop
scientists Martin Entz estimated that
under prairie conditions there will be
a $12.09 per acre saving in the use of
herbicides by removing weed seeds
from the field for the first six years,
and $20.06 per acre long term once
weed seed populations have been
reduced. Economist and
transportation expert Barry Prentice
estimates an equipment cost saving of
$24,000; the average operating costs
were $60.65 compared to $75.43 per
hour for a combine. Field benefits
gained were put at $17 an acre for
millings, based on prairie conditions
in 1999; $2.50 per acre in reduced
grain loss and $16 per acre in
improved weed management.
Researchers at the Prairie Feed
Resource Centre tested the millings
from the McLeod system and found it
had 12 per cent protein, the equivalent
of medium -quality hay.
McLeod himself claims there
would be fuel savings of 5.5 litres for
every acre harvested.
Against this is the fact a 160 hp
tractor is tied up and extra
transportation might be needed if the
hauling distance to the granaries is
too far.0
— Source: Canadian Cattlemen
Improved chicken cages being developed
The Alberta Egg Producers Board is supporting research toward the
development of battery cages for hens that could ultimately provide more
individual space and furnishings to accommodate natural behaviour such as
nesting and roosting.
The goal is to develop improved cages at a reasonable cost. While providing
more space may not increase productivity, it could address public concern about
how laying hens are raised.
"Certainly stocking densities are going to be less than what we have in a
modern cage system," said John Church, an animal welfare specialist with
Alberta Agriculture.
"To improve the welfare of anything, we have to do it in an economical
manner that won't put a heavy burden on the producer," he said.
The latest research includes modifying current systems to include areas for
nesting and roosting. The pre -battery cage system of loose housing was not
necessarily a good model, Church says, noting that mortality about World War II
was 15-25 per cent of the flock, compared to 2.5 to 5 per cent in a modern flock.
While an aviary system to raise birds allows more movement, dust levels in the
barn are higher and there's the risk of contamination of eggs exposed to
manure.°
— Source: Western Producer
46 THE RURAL VOICE
Vaccinations through
plants explored
University of Guelph
researchers hope alfalfa and sim-
ilar crops may someday offer ani-
mals — and eventually humans —
a viable alternative to conventional
vaccines that are costly and hard
to administer in difficult conditions.
Plant agriculture professor
Larry Erickson is leading a team
of University of Guelph
pathologists, immunologists,
animal nutritionists and plant
engineers who are genetically
modifying plants that will be used
as edible vaccines to combat
certain intestinal diseases.
To date the researchers have
worked with edible vaccines on
pigs and mice in North America
using alfalfa and tobacco but
there's hope the vaccines might
also help millions of people in the
Third World to receive vaccinations
without having to be injected.
"Crops containing a specific
kind of protein called an antigen
could help millions of people
become vaccinated against these
(intestinal) diseases, which are a
huge problem in many countries
due to poor nutrition and
unsanitary living conditions,"
Erickson said.
One strategy is to purify
antigen from the plants and
administer it by injection or
inhalation. He speculated it could
also be delivered orally in a
powder or capsule form. In any
event the body's natural defence
mechanisms would allow it to
produce antibodies in response to
the ingested antigen, killing the
virus and helping the body
remember how to attack it if the
actual virus enters the body.
The real challenge of edible
vaccines in plants is not the
production of antigen in plants,
but achieving the desired level and
kind of immune response that will
protect the target population
following ingestion.°
— Source: University of Guelph
Research Magazine