A26-lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 20, 1994
Many Demonstrations Show The Technical. Side Of Farming
(Continued from Pag* A 1)
playing wares at Ag Progress Days
are not permitted to sell anything,
just educate, demonstrate and dis
play ... and discuss the possible
benefits that could come with mak
ing a purchase.
The Ireland-built, slurry
injection rig was demonstrated
because it could have practical
applications for those faced with
odor problems and manure spread
ing in connection with manure
management and dealing with the
growing problems of a growing
human population.
But the othen possible benefits
of being able to get the nutrient
carrying slurry to the upper root
zone include better use of the nutri
ents and moisture.
George Reed, United Kingdom
Tillage demonstrations offer farmers a chance to observe different methods.
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A waste water Jet spray irrigator kicks off on two-minute intervals sending a stream
of water far out into a field.
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Although there is room for up to 10 people, one man operates a tomato harvester
during a demontration. The harvester is self-leveling, while at the same time, the
harvesting head follows the contour of the land. The machine selects between red and
green tomatoes and discharges plant waste out of the rear, green tomatoes are
ejected out of the side.
representative for Greentrac Ltd.,
based in Antrim, Ireland, gave a
demonstration of one of the forms
of the system, using liquid hog
manure, which is perhaps a
redundancy.
The rig that Reed presented con
sisted of a tractor with a three
point PTO, a tanker containing the
sluny, and the injector system.
According to Reed, the tanker is
not a necessity. Using a tractor and
either of two extended hose
systems an umbellical to
another independent tanker, or a
reel-hose system to a manure
pit the injector can be mounted
directly to a tractor, although addi
tional weight is added to the injec
tor so that soil penetration is
accomplished.
The concept of the system is
simple: Using blades and knives to
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cut into the soil, a thin (up to a 4-in
ches deep) slice is made into the
ground, into which the slurry
flows.
The rate of slurry flow is con
trolled by two methods, tractor
speed and by the use of flow
restricting cones which are placed
in line from the tube coming from
the tanker.
Generally, Reed said the rate of
application can be roughly calcu
lated using a rule of thumb that, for
every inch of slurry injected into a
slit, 1,000 gallons per acre is being
applied.
The manufacturer’s recom
mended maximum application rate
is 4,500 gallons per acre, though
application rates should be based
on existing field conditions. Reed
stressed that the injector was not
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designed as a means for “dump
ing” manure, but rather for making
better applications and reducing
odor and the losses associated with
more common means of dispersal.
Such losses with surface appli
cations include moisture, nutrient
volatization and plant loss or
pasture-use loss.
With the injector, except for the
slits into the surface of the earth
and a very faint odor at a very close
distance, there was little evidence
that manure was applied.
The injector model Reed
demonstrated consisted of six pairs
of independent sets of discs and
blades, for a total of twelve, across
a width of 8.23 feet
From the slurry tanker, a single
George Reed, representative for an Irish company that
manufactures a shallow-injection system for animal man
ure slurry, measures the depth of a cut into the ground and
stands where he had just injected liquid hog manure at a
rate of about 3,000 gallons per acre.
Shown are three sets of pairs of the actual devieea used
to shallow-in)ect slurry into a field with a cover crop. When
the unit Is lifted from the ground, a hydraulic clamp at the
terminal end of each hose shuts off any possibility of drip*
ping manure from escaping.
hose pumps the slurry into a distri
bution head, which works similar
to the function of an electrical dis
tributor on a multi-cylinder gas
engine, except this distributor puts
out slurry.
Inside the distributor head, a
“T n -shaped rotor with portals,
allows two constant flows of slur
ry. The are 12 portals around the
casing of the distributor head from
which tubes connect to each of the
12 knives.
The rotor revolves at a relatively
high speed, running off of three
point PTO tractor power, and slur
ry is sent through the rotor to each
of the 12 tubes at equal rates.
The 16 percent solids capability
(Turn to Pago A2B)