TECHNOLOGY Obtaining Harvesting Equipment
The Vermeer Corp. CCX770 Cob Harvester emptying cobs.
On-Combine Cob Separation The on-combine cob separation technique uses a modified combine to harvest cobs and grain into separate bins. The manufacturer involved in this technique is primarily Ceres Agriculture Consultants. The Ceres Ag Residue Recovery System sorts stover at the back of the combine and then collects cobs in a hopper on top of the combine.
Tow-Behind Cob Harvest The tow-behind cob harvest technique uses a cob caddy hitched to the back of the combine. The machine catches the stover from the combine to collect the cobs. A hitch must be installed on the combine, meaning the combine will work harder to pull the weight of the equipment and the cobs. “That’s obviously a concern,” Ackers says. “The combines up to this point—I don’t care which [manufacturer]—their chassis haven’t been designed for pulling a big, heavy cart behind them. What [Case IH] is looking at with our own (tow-behind) design, as well, is what do we need to do with the rear axle and rear frame of the combine to ensure that it’s all going to hold together when we do this?” Because cobs are less dense than grain, the cob caddy needs to be emptied more often than the grain cart. The manufacturers involved in this technique include CNH America LLC, Vermeer Corp. and Redekop Manufacturing. To support collecting grain from the combine and cobs from the caddies during a single harvest pass, Dethmers Manufacturing Co. (Demco) has developed the dual-cart 2-SKU Cob Cart, according to Ken Streff, vice president of sales and marketing for Demco. Streff says the front cart collects grain. The rear cart is connected using a swing hitch so that it can be positioned beside the cob caddy for cob collection.
32 BIOMASS MAGAZINE 1|2009
Most cob harvesting equipment is not yet available for purchase and most manufacturers haven’t determined pricing, which makes it difficult for farmers to weigh the cost of harvesting cobs against the value of their cobs—which is also still an unknown. No matter. Machinery Link, an agricultural equipment leasing company based in Kansas City, Mo., plans to have cob harvesting equipment available for lease as soon as possible, according to Landon Morris, vice president of marketing for Machinery Link. Morris urges farmers to consider leasing. “We lease combines because they are a very expensive and highly specialized asset,” he says. “Whichever of the cob units become commercial, they will fall into the same asset class. They are new pieces of equipment that have never existed before, and so we don’t know what the residual value of those pieces of equipment will be or what their useful life will be. This is an ideal model for leasing or short-term rentals as opposed to asking a producer to bear the burden of purchasing an asset for cob collection.” Morris says the farmers he has talked to are excited to begin harvesting cobs. “I think they are all hopeful,” he says. “Farmers are generally optimistic. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be farmers, right?”
Cob Harvest Logistics Researchers at the U of M, Morris have looked at cob storage and transportation issues and have determined that cobs can be stored in the field temporarily, so long as the piles are removed before spring. This provides growers and feedstock purchasers with a practical, inexpensive storage option. So far, both Poet and CVEC have asked farmers to pile cobs at the edges of their fields and have shouldered the cost of transporting cobs to their facilities. Meanwhile, researchers continue to examine whether broken or whole-cob pieces store best and which is best for transportation.
A Commercial Harvest The first, small-scale commercial harvest of cobs for Poet and CVEC will be in the fall of 2009. “We will work with farmers and buy cobs, probably through a contract approach,” Sturdevant says. “We’ll just keep this evolution going so that in 2009, a number of farmers are actually harvesting cobs and then in 2010, there will be more machinery available for lease or purchase and there will be more farmers involved. We will just let it grow from there.” CVEC currently purchases corn from approximately 112,000 acres of land supplied by members of its associated cooperative. “We expect that those same 112,000 acres could provide 75 percent of the energy needs for operating the plant if we use all of the corn cobs,” Fynboh says. “It’s not an insurmountable task. Twenty-five years ago, you couldn’t imagine the pile of corn that we’re producing now.” BIO Ryan C. Christiansen is a Biomass Magazine staff writer. Reach him at rchristiansen@bbiinternational.com or (701) 373-8042.