Mechanized crop production research in western Nebraska

By John A. Smith, Professor/Machinery Systems Engineer
Panhandle Research and Extension Center

Power and mechanization for agricultural crop production have been at the center of a dramatic history of production agriculture in the Nebraska Panhandle through the 100 years from 1910 to 2010.

The technology invented and developed by agricultural engineers within the history of this period has increased crop yields, has eliminated almost all heavy physical labor, has provided a safe and economical food supply, and has increased the acreage of a typical crop production operation in the Nebraska Panhandle by as much as 40-fold during this period.

The development of a reliable internal combustion engine for the farm tractor perhaps made more impact on the progress of crop production than any other single advancement or change between 1910 and 2010. In 1910 there were very few tractors in the Nebraska Panhandle and these were steam engines used for pulling multi-gang sod plows for breaking the prairie, and for powering stationary threshing machines for harvesting dryland wheat.

It was really in the 1930s and early 1940s before tractors with internal combustion engines became commonplace as the primary power source on individual Panhandle farms, replacing a stable of draft horses. In a period as short as 15 years, horses were replaced by tractors, and the field capacity of an individual producer went from level to a steep incline. Row crop tractors increased in engine power from a common 15-30 hp in 1935 to a typical 240 hp in 2010, creating a near tenfold increase in unit productivity.

Invention, development, and adaptation of field implements also made dramatic change in field operations and reduction in manual labor for crop production during the previous 100 years. Grain harvest evolved from horse-drawn binders and manual shocking of the grain sheaves to the present self-propelled combine harvesters with features including 40-foot-wide headers; 300-bushel grain tanks; self-adjusting threshing and cleaning systems to minimize grain damage and field loss while maximizing field capacity; and yield monitors.

Hay harvest has changed from literally making piles of hay to be later fed to livestock in the field to making dense, 1-ton square bale packages designed for efficient transport to other states. Pneumatic and mechanical thinners were developed to replace manual thinning of the sugarbeet crop. Sugarbeet harvesters reduced the dreaded hand labor of topping, loading, and transporting the roots to the factory.

Tillage implements and row-crop planters increased in width, robustness, and field capacity to match the continuing increase in tractor power. Planters, for example, have progressed from four or six row implements with mechanical singulation mechanisms, to more precise pneumatic seed handling implements with common widths of 12 and 16 rows, and widths now available up to 48 rows.

Agricultural engineers have contributed much more than just ‘bigger, heavier steel’ to the mechanization of crop production. Engine technology has provided more reliable, fuel-efficient power with reduced emissions as documented by the world-famous University of Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory. Complex electrical and hydraulic systems on tractors, combines, and other implements have all but eliminated human power with modern farm operations that was so intense with field work 100 years ago.

Agricultural engineers and designers have most recently taken a page from NASA and military operations to utilize satellite signals and digital communication (GPS) to enable assisted steering and positioning of tractors, combines, and implements. This technology has now progressed to true sub-inch auto-steer, including automatic turning and positioning of implements at ends of fields; prescription rate application of chemicals and planting; and mapping of crop yields, soil properties, and applied chemicals. These technologies are endangering the meticulous art of tractor driving, but are enabling real-time management of the technologies of the field operation!

But this 100 years of power and mechanization development has brought much more than simple productivity to modern crop production. Perhaps as important to long-term agriculture, this technology has made possible improved quality of harvested crop and a practical stewardship of our natural resources, particularly soil and water, necessary for sustainable crop production into the next 100 years. Agricultural engineers have led research and the practical development of conservation tillage production systems which minimize soil tillage operations and maintain crop residues on the soil surface, both significantly reducing soil erosion, conserving soil water for the intended crop, and improving soil properties. Modern farm implement inventions and developments have enabled widespread utilization of these sustainable and environmentally responsible crop production systems.

These changes, improvements, and developments in farm power and machinery, and their contributions to crop production, have encompassed a national, even global, scope. The machinery systems engineering position at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center, created in 1979, has been a contributor to this process and progress for local crops and production systems. Examples include:

• Development of a practical transplanting system for Nebraska sugarbeet production.
• Measurement of field loss from dry bean and sugarbeet harvest operations which has lead to awareness of harvest loss and subsequent reduction in this field loss.
• Research on seed quality from dry bean harvest which has resulted in changes to combine design and operating adjustments to accommodate higher harvested seed quality.
• Development of an electronic planter test stand to accurately measure sugarbeet planter seed spacing performance and which has replaced grease belts. This technology is used in the annual sugarbeet industry planter clinics. The concept has led to a commercially available system for monitoring planter seed spacing accuracy in the field.
• Zone tillage equipment and systems for sugarbeet and dry bean production. Zone tillage is now a primary production system used in the Nebraska Panhandle to reduce production costs, improve conservation of soil and water, and to alleviate soil compaction.
• Development of direct-harvest systems for dry edible beans specifically for Nebraska harvest conditions and producer objectives. Header manufacturers have modified equipment, the necessity of maintaining a very level field has been recognized, bean varieties have been evaluated, and harvest loss documented.
• Development of tillage, planting, and harvesting systems for chicory production in Nebraska.

Direct harvest of dry edible beans is an evolving crop production practice that is an example of the contribution of Agricultural Engineering to western Nebraska agriculture.