COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Critical resource shortages, declining research and education funding, and public policies .relating to agriculture are key issues facing agricultural engineers in the next decades, according to Robert H. Tweedy, president of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, which celebrates its 75th Anniversary in 1982. Tweedy was featured speaker March 4, before the Washington, D.C. Maryland Section, ASAE. His speech was entitled “Agricultural Engineering and Future Issues.” Competing interests for resources by various special in terests will demand that new NEED HELP? ECONOMIC PLANNING CASH FLOW ESTIMATES PROFIT ANALYSIS MARKETING STRATEGIES COMPUTER APPLICATIONS KEYSTONE CONSULTING Route 1, Box 7670, Grantville, PA 17028 phone: 717-865-6560 Between 3-8 PM BIG FARM POWER AND EQUIPMENT t WE CAN MAKE YOUR FUU DOLLAR GO FARTHER THIS SPRING BECAUSE TO THE DRAWBAR! INDEPENDENT TESTS SHOW STEIGER TRACTORS TRANSMIT AN AVERAGE 87.78% OF IT'S ENGINE H.P. TO THE DRAWBAR. THE COMPETITION AVERAGES 77.17%. Tweedy addresses ASAE 75th meeting public policies be established. This will impose new obligations on our profession,” he said. Land, water and energy use are three areas where clearly defined public policies will be needed in order to assure adequate amounts of each of these resources for agriculture, Tweedy said. By being active during the formation of legislation affecting agriculture, engineers can be more efficient, Tweedy said. He em phasized that this participation must be balanced by a “politically neutral objectivity. ’ ’ Public-funded agricultural research has served well to provide abundant, low-cost food in tsSTEIGER More of the how THE FACTS PROVE IT: COMPLETE TEST RESULTS FROM STEIGER OR YOUR STEIGER DEALER omr you pay for the U.S., and the ample food supplies exported by this country. Tweedy said, yet public and private research' funding for agriculture is declining. “Agriculture is possibly the only federal research investment with a positive rate of return to the public. The ‘rate of return’ are so attractive that we should be in creasing it, not reducing it,” he said. In addition, declining public funding for education threatens both the quantity and quality of engineering graduates. Tweedy contends. A combination of high industry engineering salaries and low PUTS Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 6,1982—A15 graduate assistantships will reduce the number of PhDs in agricultural engineering, placing even greater strain on the teaching ranks. "Further, the quality of en gineering graduates is threatened in some schools because they lack modern engineering equipment and laboratories, "he said. Tweedy described public con 10. cem about mechanized agriculture as an issue that, left unresolved, could further reduce agricultural productivity and result in food costs rising. “We must basically be pro-| mechanization when it results in l improved productivity and reduced food costs,” he said. “I feel mechanization is usually appropriate when it reduces or eliminates the drugery of farm labor.” Historically, productivity in agriculture has been high and has maintained annual increases above those in other industries, Tweedy said. ASAE, a technical and pro fessional society, has begun to ad dress many of the complex issues facing agriculture. Tweedy said, but the major successes can only be achieved with the grass-roots support of all interests working within the agricultural sector. ASAE is a non-profit, technical, scientific and educational society committed to improving agriculture through the ap plication of engineering principles. Headquartered in St. Joseph, Michigan, the Society’s mem-" bersiiip includes 9,000 full mem bers and 2,300 students in 50 states and 90 foreign countries. TOPTEN IN DRIVE TRAIN EFFICIENCY MODEL STEIGER ST-280 (CAT) 91*92% STEIGER ST-280 (CUMMINS) 91.59% STEIGER 1 PTA-280(CUMMINS) 88.95 % STEIGER ST-225 (CAT) 87.99% STEIGER PTA-280 (CAT) 87.49% STEIGER ST-325 (CAT) 86.75% VERSATILE 875 (CUMMINS) 86.44% VERSATILE 835 (CUMMINS) 86.23% STEIGER FTA-325 (CAT) 85.13% FORD FW-60 (CUMMINS) 85.24 % STEIGER AVERAGE 87.78% Others Average 77.17% ★ NOTE: All information is current as of Jan. 1982, * NOTE: Drive Tram Efficiency is calculated by dividing the highest drawbar horsepower attained in the test by the engine horsepower. The per centage represents' the maximum ratio of engine horsepower transferred to the drawbar on tested tractors. DB HP/ENG HP
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