UK Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Extension Newsletter Summer 2019 Issue 7

SUMMER 2019

ISSUE 7

Photo courtesy of Progressive Dairy Magazine.

DEPARTMENT OF BIOSYSTEMS AND AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

Haymaking Safety

By Mark Purschwitz, Ph.D. Extension Professor Agricultural Safety and Health Haymaking might be the most universal of American harvest practices, carried out north and south and coast to coast. History has shown that even experienced producers can suffer serious or fatal injuries if hazards and safe practices are ignored.

The following issues should be considered and addressed before making hay. Remember that every farm is different and this should not be considered a complete list.

HAYMAKING SAFETY DOES YOUR BARN NEED GUTTERS? WATER GAPS TRENDS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF STORED GRAIN

Maintenance, Adjustment, and Repairs • Plugging or breakdowns result in operators getting off the tractor and getting into harm’s way.

• Make repairs, replace worn parts, and perform all maintenance before heading to the field.

• Check hydraulic systems for leaks or damage.

• Properly adjust machines for the crop and conditions.

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• Check tires on tractors, implements, and trucks.

• Make sure brakes are in good condition, especially when towing loads.

• Inspect and repair/replace safety items like shields, fire extinguishers, etc.

Guards and Shields

• Always have positive control of bales when handling, such as with a spear or grapple. Bales can roll down the arms of a front-end loader if not restrained. Keep the load low for stability.

• If using bale spears, park the tractor where children cannot run into the spears. This has happened.

• Safety systems like guards and shields are crucial for personal safety. Things happen.

• Replace broken, damaged, or missing shields.

• Be sure PTO driveline shields turn freely on the shaft and do not have missing pieces.

• Replace torn or missing canvas on disc mowers to protect against flying objects.

• Check tailgate locks on round balers to be sure they work if needed.

Right Equipment for the Job • Always use a tractor with ROPS (Roll-Over Protective Structure).

• Use a tractor heavy enough and with the braking power needed for the loads it will pull or carry, especially on hills.

• Weight the tractor properly when handling bales.

• Make sure truck and trailer combinations are within legal GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) ratings.

Safe Operating Practices • Train and retrain operators. Review proper procedures in owner’s manuals.

• Do not allow extra riders.

• Operate slowly and carefully on side slopes. Be aware of moisture or loose hay that can cause a tractor to slide, and obstacles or depressions that can cause a tractor to tip.

• Stay away from the baler intake. People have lost arms, legs, and lives being pulled into balers.

• Always shut off the PTO and tractor engine if unplugging or adjustment is needed.

• Always use tailgate locks if working under a raised baler tailgate.

Photo of a farmer’s idea for a folding tractor mirror, courtesy of Farm Journal Magazine.

Roadway Travel • Maintain safety on the road not only for yourself, but for people in other vehicles.

• Use plenty of lighting and marking.

Amber flashers and rotating amber beacons help attract the attention of other motorists.

• SMV emblems must be clean and bright, and not obscured by anything being carried or towed, such as bales on a 3-pt. hitch or wagon. An SMV emblem mounted on a steel rod or shank can be stuck into a bale.

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• Have mirrors on the tractor for increased safety.

• Use courtesy and pull over when safe to allow trailing vehicles to pass.

• Think about what a bale spear can do to another vehicle. Keep spears tilted upwards. Would you want a bale spear coming through your windshield?

• Always secure loads with plenty of straps of proper strength and condition. Better to be safe than sorry. Remove loose hay that could end up on the road.

Remember, every operation is different and has its own hazards. This is not intended to be a complete list. Every producer is responsible for assessing all hazards and taking appropriate action.

deere.com/en/attachments-accessories-and-implements/utility-tractors-attachments-accessories/loader-attachments/ab12-bale-spear/ Bale Spear Examples: https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Attachments-Tractor-Attachment-49-inch/dp/B00PHTNQZU https://www.deere.com/en/attachments-accessories-and-implements/ utility-tractors-attachments-accessories/ loader-attachments/ab13-bale-spear/

Resources: This photo from Deere showing bales being handled with a tractor and loader. https://www.

Does Your Barn Need Gutters?

By Morgan Hayes, Ph.D., PE Assistant Extension Professor Livestock Systems The primary purpose of a barn is to provide animals, equipment, or plant/feed products protection from weather. Rain is a particular challenge that barns are used to protect against. One product that farmers are strongly encouraged to invest in when they build a new barn is gutters.

Gutters provide a method to collect all the water that hits the roof and divert it away from the foundation of the structure. Allowing rain to land on the ground beside the barn will allow animals and equipment to rut or tear up the ground. It will also erode soil and allow water to degrade the foundation. While

Mark Purschwitz, Ph.D., is an Extension Professor in Agricultural Safety and Health.

gutters are a good recommendation on all structures, they are particularly important for open-sided barns, where rain that falls off the edge of the roof is likely to blow into the space. Water entering a barn makes the barn far less effective at its task and makes managing the environment in the barn more difficult.

Sizing Gutters and Downspouts I’ve recently been on a few farm visits where farmers have invested in gutters but are frustrated because the gutters or downspouts were improperly sized. Undersized gutters and downspouts result in water overflowing the gutters during heavy rains, which means the water still reaches the foundation or is blown directly in the barn.

Sometimes the concern is how many downspouts are placed along the side of the barn, and sometimes with wider barns or with additional roof area added, the gutter and down-

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spouts are undersized.

While four-inch gutters are often adequate for residential properties, many larger barns need to size up to six-inch gutters.

The shape and slope of the gutters will also affect how much water the gutters can transport.

In order to determine the size gutters needed, a new spreadsheet is available at https:// www.uky.edu/bae/hayes. When sizing gutters it is important to account for areas on each side of the roof individually. Often barns include sheds, which makes the roof area receiving rain uneven on each side of the barn.

Determining Rainfall Potentials The next step is to determine the rainfall total a gutter needs to handle. You will need to determine a rainfall total in inches per hour representative of what you would expect to receive during heavy rainfall events.

For simplicity, the spreadsheet focuses on a one-hour rainfall event, but you could use shorter rainfall events if you convert the rainfall to an “inches per hour� rate. This rainfall is applied to the roof and the total cubic feet of water that hit the roof within the hour storm

Photo courtesy of Morgan Hayes. event, the gallons per minute leaving the roof, and the gallons per minute through each downspout are determined. Using these final values, gutters and downspout sizes can be evaluated.

The amount of water can be surprising; for instance, during a 25-year rainfall event a 40x50 barn in Lexington with no sheds and downspouts on the four corners would have almost 12.5 gallons per minute flowing through each downspout! You can see that if the barn was 100 feet long and additional downspouts were not installed, the water would back up and flow over the top of the gutters. With the heavy rains Kentucky has experienced the past year and through the first half of this year, gutters can be a very good investment for barns.

Morgan Hayes, Ph.D., PE, is an Assistant Extension Professor in Livestock Systems.

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Water Gaps

By Josh Jackson, Ph.D. Assistant Extension Professor Livestock Systems With the record amount of rainfall here in the Bluegrass last year and the strong storms that have gone through recently, it may be time to rethink or redo the water gap in the fence.

Water gaps are a challenge for two reasons.

On one hand you have to deal with the water and the force of nature that can impart.

Second, you have to deal with livestock that potentially have limitless time to test your fencing ability. It is also late in the cattle breeding season so there may be an additional desire for animals to cross the water gap.

Unfortunately, the water gap may be a place where the animals like to congregate as well.

In most fence lines traversing streams, there are trees because maintaining (brush hogging, weed eating, spraying) along the stream and fence interface can be difficult to do and may be ignored for more “important” tasks.

Therefore, trees grow up. The trees, associated shade created, and cool water make an ideal place for animals to congregate in the summer. Thus, cattle have more time to be at the weak point, potentially testing the fence. Because of that, a resilient water gap is a must.

When analyzing your water gap there are several factors which must be taken into consideration.

electric high tensile may be the best option.

Chains, poly tape with weights, or other conductive objects can be used to prevent cattle movement while not impeding water flow. The bottom wire or wires influenced by the flood water need to be on a separate circuit so that they could be shut off during prolonged rainfall events so not to ground out the fence.

However, this function can now be automated with the use of a flood gate controller.

Width Less than 16’ and Depth Less than 4’ General Recommendations One option for a water gap is to use a cattle panel (4 gauge wire) along the bottom to block the animals. In the drawing, I have two railroad ties with concrete holding the water gap (Figures 1-3). If the location around the water gap .is especially soft/mushy, an actual brace may

Figure 1 Water gap without woven wire shown.

Water Gap Considerations • Width or depth of water gap • Flow of water • Amount/size of debris or logs floating downstream • Peak depth (bank height) Width Greater than 16’ The width and depth control the type of fence that can be installed. If the water gap is wider than 16’ and especially prone to flooding, using

Figure 2 Illustrative cut-away.

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Figure 3 I have the main section of woven wire going across the top of the water gap to match the terrain. The hog wire was cut to match the terrain. be needed along both sides. The hog wire is held there using high tensile wire (Figures 4-5). The wire goes around the bottom of the post of each post. The wire is tensioned using a strainer and has a tension relief with the spring. The wire is held there with staples. The staples are not driven in all the way to allow for some movement and stretching if needed.

The high tensile wire could be threaded through the cattle panel as one option.

The cattle panel could be attached to the high tensile wire using carabiners, a series of strong and durable zip ties, wire, or other ingenious methods that I haven’t yet ex-

Figure 4 The high tensile wire holds the panel. It is tensioned on the opposite side.

Staples used to hold the high tensile wire are not driven in all the way. Movement of the wire still needs to take place.

Figure 5 Woven wire was removed from the picture to make the cattle panel and high tensile easier to view. At low flow the wire should be perpendicular to the earth.

Weights can be added to the cattle panel to ensure that cattle are less likely to get out. plored. In the system that I have observed, it was just threaded through the cattle panel.

I have seen some producers use a gate but would suggest the cattle panel instead. A gate would have less void space and a high volume of material for the water to push on.

The gate would seem to offer more resistance to the water. The increased resistance to the water flow created by the gate would be transferred to the surrounding posts.

With the cattle panel, I’m planning for the force of water to potentially push the gate open in high flow events. Material and debris can still get caught by the cattle panel.

However, at times of high volumetric flows of water and debris the cattle panel should be able to rotate/swing (Figures 6-8), to a certain degree, to meet this challenge. You would still have to check the water gap after high rainfall events to make sure there are no large trees or debris lodged in the cattle panel.

Weights can be added to the bottom of the cattle panel to make it more difficult for the cattle to push up and go under. Also, the panel can be attached to the ground (rebar or a post) using light gauge wire. The wire is meant to fail during high rainfall events. These are commonly used in the Midwest and are

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Figure 6 Marginal flow of water simulation .

Figure 9 Wireframe representation. aptly named breakaway gates. Another wireframe illustration is also shown Figure 9.

Especially Challenging Stream or Waterway

Figure 7 For High water/flow situations I would want to the panel to be able to fully rotate and allow foreign objects and drift wood to get through if possible. There will still be wood and other debris that will get stuck and must be occasionally dislodged.

Figure 8 Tensioner and spring on the opposite side of the cattle panel. Cut panel to match the shape of the water gap.

If the water gap still washes out or can’t be resolved, the best solution is to fence off the stream or water way. Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) or County Agricultural Improvement Program (CAIP) may be able to offset some to the cost to fence off the stream.

This would eliminate some of the challenges.

Dedicated cattle crossing can be installed along the stream to aid in the movement from one pasture to another but prevent some of the degradation caused by concentrating cattle movements to one location. With the stream fenced off, waterers may be required on both sides of the fenced-off stream. Again, EQIP and CAIP should be able to help offset some of the costs of installing waterers in these pastures.

Josh Jackson, Ph.D., is an Assistant Extension Professor in Livestock Systems Engineering.

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Trends in the Managment of Stored Grain

By Sam McNeill, Ph.D., P.E. Associate Extension Professor Food and Bioprocess Engineering Kentucky farmers proudly provide high quality grains for feed, food, spirits and fuel use throughout the southeastern U.S. and around the world. They produced a record level of soybeans, and the 6th largest corn crop in 2018 (Table 1) due to record acreage and near record yields. In comparison, the 2017 crops were the 2nd and 5th largest, respectively (Table 2), due to record yields on 60,000 fewer combined acres than 2018. In most years, both crops are stored on-farm between one to six months before delivery to a commercial elevator, feed mill, distiller, ethanol plant or other grain buyer.

These large crops have put pressure on existing storage capacity, so we’re seeing an expansion of on-farm and off-farm facilities. USDA estimates indicate an average of 4 million bushels of new storage in the state per year, bringing the total capacity just under 300 million bushels (Figure 1). On-farm storage capacity in Kentucky

is historically 2-3 times that of off-farm facilities, so a reasonable estimate is about 7 million added bushels per year on Kentucky farms.

Interestingly, on-farm storage represents over 70% of the total and is among the highest in the U.S. Also, grain production has been expanding in some areas of the state where commercial storage is limited so the potential growth for conventional storage systems is increasing.

Average commodity prices for 2017 and 2018 place the total value of grain crops at just over $1.9 and $1.8 billion, respectively. Post-harvest losses of 1% or more are not uncommon during storage and most often result in discounts by the elevator or grain buyer, which represents a minimum of about $18 million or more in lost income statewide! Hence, prudent management of stored grain is essential to protect product value and quality during handling, drying and storage. The University of Kentucky Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department’s extension education program is dedicated to providing timely information that emphasizes safe handling practices, energy efficient drying methods, and proven storage management tools that help producers and elevator managers maintain high quality grain after harvest.

Table 1. Kentucky grain production, average of monthly prices and production value for 2018. (Source: Kentucky Agri-News, March 2019 (www.nass.usda.gov/ky).

Table 2. Kentucky grain production, average of monthly prices and production value for 2017.

(Source: Kentucky Agri-News, March 2018 (www.nass.usda.gov/ky).

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Figure 1. On-farm and off-farm grain storage capacities (Mbu) by year in Kentucky.

Sam McNeill, Ph.D., PE, is an Extension Professor in Food and Bioprocess Engineering.

The BAE Extension Newsletter is published quarterly by the University of Kentucky Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Department. Š2019 Editorial Committee Director: Michael Montross, Ph.D., P.E. Editor, Designer: Karin Pekarchik Contributors: Carmen Agouridis, Ph.D., PE, M.P.P., Matt Dixon, Morgan Hayes, Ph.D., PE, Joshua Jackson, Ph.D., Doug Overhults, Ph.D., PE, Mark Purschwitz, Ph.D., Sam McNeill, Ph.D., PE Contact the editor: karin.pekarchik@uky.edu

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Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product, or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.

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