Resource Magazine October 2008 Engineering and Technology for A
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Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World October 2008 Celebrating a Century of Tractor Development PUBLISHED BY ASABE – AMERICAN SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERS Targeted access to 9,000 international agricultural & biological engineers Ray Goodwin (800) 369-6220, ext. 3459 BIOH0308Filler.indd 1 7/24/08 9:15:05 PM FEATURES COVER STORY 5 Celebrating a Century of Tractor Development Carroll Goering Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World October 2008 Plowing down memory lane: a top-six list of tractor changes over the last century with emphasis on those that transformed agriculture. Vol. 15, No. 7, ISSN 1076-3333 7 Adding Value to Poultry Litter Using ASABE President Jim Dooley, Forest Concepts, LLC Transportable Pyrolysis ASABE Executive Director M. Melissa Moore Foster A. Agblevor ASABE Staff “This technology will not only solve waste disposal and water pollution Publisher Donna Hull problems, it will also convert a potential waste to high-value products such as Managing Editor Sue Mitrovich energy and fertilizer.” Consultants Listings Sandy Rutter Professional Opportunities Listings Melissa Miller ENERGY ISSUES, FOURTH IN THE SERIES ASABE Editorial Board Chair Suranjan Panigrahi, North Dakota State University 9 Renewable Energy Gains Global Momentum Secretary/Vice Chair Rafael Garcia, USDA-ARS James R. Fischer, Gale A. Buchanan, Ray Orbach, Reno L. Harnish III, Past Chair Edward Martin, University of Arizona and Puru Jena Board Members Wayne Coates, University of Arizona; WIREC 2008 brought together world leaders in the fi eld of renewable energy Jeremiah Davis, Mississippi State University; from 125 countries to address the market adoption and scale-up of renewable Donald Edwards, retired; Mark Riley, University of Arizona; Brian Steward, Iowa State University; energy technologies. Alan VanNahmen, Farm Buddy; Joseph Zulovich, University of Missouri 12 Research and Education Priorities in Send submissions, correspondence, Agriculture, Forestry, and Energy and address changes to Duane Acker Resource Working toward achieving the 25x’25 renewable energy vision, a recent paper 2950 Niles Road St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659 by the National 25x’25 Agriculture/Forestry Steering Committee provides an update. Publisher Tim McNichols FUTURE INTERESTS Editor Thea Galenes Project Manager Ray Goodwin 14 Addressing Uncertainty Marketing & Research Alex Scovil Mark Riley Advertising Sales Lou Brandow, Albert Quintero What distinguishes agricultural and biological engineering from other Design & Layout Sharlene MacCoy engineering disciplines? It is the great uncertainty that is inherent in biological Advertising Art Glenn Domingo systems and how we address it. For advertising information, please contact Ray Goodwin at (800) 369-6220. 17 Nanobiotechnology, Renewable Energy, Vol. 15, No. 7. Resource: Engineering & Technology for Sustainability, and the Future a Sustainable World is published eight times a year in Norman R. Scott February, April, May, June, July, September, October, “It is likely to be another century‚ let’s say the year 2100, before the full and November for the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers by Naylor, LLC, 5950 NW 1st potential of nanobiotechnology, renewable energy, and sustainability will be Place, Gainesville, FL 32607; (800) 369-6220; (352) 331- realized.” 3525 fax; www.naylor.com. Copyright 2008 by ASABE. Reproduction in whole or in part prohibited without written STUDENT INTERESTS authorization. Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World and ASABE assume no responsibility 21 Embracing Sustainable Development for contributors’ statements and opinions, which do not as a Profession necessarily represent the offi cial position of ASABE. Laura Christianson, Alok Bhandari, and Brian Steward Published October 2008/BIO-H0808/7656 “The time has never been more appropriate for agricultural and biological Postmaster: Send changes of address to: Resource, c/o engineers to play a leading role in problem solving on the global stage.” ASABE, 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659 24 The TransAtlantic Precision Agriculture Consortium George Vellidis American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Too good to be true? An international exchange program that provided 2950 Niles Road American and European agricultural and biological engineering students St. Joseph, MI 49085-9659 opportunities to study abroad at absolutely no cost. (269) 429-0300 • (269) 429-3852 fax [email protected] • www.asabe.org DEPARTMENTS ON THE COVER At the end of Carroll Goering’s history lesson: today’s 4 From the President powerful tractors. (Photos, from top left clockwise, 4 Events Calendar courtesy of Case IH, John Deere, AGCO Corp., and Kubota Tractor Corp.) 26 Update 28 Professional Opportunities 30 Professional Listings RESOURCE October 2008 3 31 Last Word FROM THE PPresidentresident “To the people who are engineering the future of our planet…” ioenergy, food security, water production enterprises to regional farmers and processors. quality, and environmental resto- Such systems engineering has been a hallmark of agricultural ration are among the important engineers for all of the past century. The current installment Bsocietal objectives that ASABE from Jim Fischer et al. points out the importance of systems members work toward. We contribute our thinking when planning biofuels facilities to produce prof- competencies to teams that include a great itable co-products that optimize the system economics and many technical, scientifi c, and other disci- hold down the cost of liquid transportation biofuels. Norm plines. The core competencies of our members through the Scott, also a distinguished member of the National Academy decades are readily adapted by the nimble to current contexts of Engineering, throws out a challenge to ASABE members to and challenges. accelerate our intellectual and creative efforts to move emerging The cover story in this issue recounts a century of tractor technologies forward. development. From the earliest steam tractors of the mid-nine- Mark Riley reminds us that one of the things that separate teenth century to the most modern fl ex-fuel and low emissions our kind of engineers from most others is our ability to make tractors, agricultural engineers are core to tractor design teams. wise design choices and assess risks in situations with high It is unlikely that mechanical tractive power will be irrelevant uncertainty. As we embark on our second century, we daily in the next century. What are unknowns are the innovations in discover how little we know about the behavior of biological, materials, power sources, regulatory systems, and competitive ecological, and natural resource systems. I am reminded of a market forces that will infl uence future designs. However, I am lesson that my mentor, Bob Fridley, taught me more than 40 confi dent that our current and future members will be at the years ago. Bob described agricultural engineers of the time forefront of design teams. as “those engineers who carefully measure the properties of A set of stories addresses innovations and strategies in the a biomaterial, discover that the mean and standard deviation bioenergy arena. Collectively, these stories paint a powerful are equal, yet learn enough to make safe and effective decisions picture of the systems thinking that is critical to the practice about their design.” That lesson is still relevant today for our of our profession. Conversion of poultry waste to energy and agricultural, biological, food, and forest engineering members. fertilizer not only addresses waste disposal and environmental Jim Dooley, Forest Concepts, LLC risks, but also creates a systems opportunity to couple poultry [email protected] EVENTS CCalendaralendar ASABE ENDORSED EVENTS ASABE CONFERENCES AND INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS 2009 To receive more information about ASABE conferences and meetings, call ASABE at (800) 371-2734 or e-mail Jan. 5-8 First Southeast Asia Soil and Water [email protected]. Assessment Tool (SWAT) Conference. Chiang Mai University, Thailand. www2.mcc.cmu. ac.th/swat/index.php. 2009 Jan. 5-9 Frutic Chile 2009: Eighth International Feb. 9-12 Agricultural Equipment Technology Symposium of Information and Technology Conference (AETC). for the Sustainable Production of Fruit and Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Vegetables, Nuts, Wines, and Olives. June 21-24 ASABE Annual International Meeting. Reno, Concepcion, Chile. www.fruitic09. Contact Nevada, USA. Stanley Best, [email protected]. June 22-24 World Congress of Computers in Agriculture June 17-19 XXXIII CIOSTA and CIGR V CONFERENCE. and Natural Resources Technology and management to ensure Reno, Nevada, USA. sustainable agriculture, agro-systems, forestry, and safety. Reggio Calabria, Italy. Contact Gennaro Giametta, [email protected]. Aug. 23-27 Second Farming Systems Design Symposium. Monterey, California, USA. Contact Jerry Hatfi eld, jerry.hatefi [email protected]. 4 October 2008 RESOURCE Celebrating a Century of Tractor Development Carroll E. Goering ntire books have been written on tractor 1925, experience in rice-producing states demonstrated the history. However, this feature’s scope covers in wisdom of linking PTO speed to engine speed rather than thumbnail only the last century—the epoch of ground speed. It allowed grain binders to run at full machine EASABE—and focuses on a top-six list of tractor speed but reduced travel speed to accommodate the heavy changes, with emphasis on those that also tended