Browsing by Subject "tarkkuusviljely"

On cattle farms, the sufficiency of silage over the winter is important. Sometimes silage yields are poor, and one may have to resort to purchase more feed. It would be easier to know how sufficient your silage is, if the exact amount of silage is known in the autumn. Accurate yield determination helps farmer to assess the sufficiency of silage. The aim of this study was to investigate the real-time yield measurement of round baling. Real-time crop measurement allows accurate data collection from the field during harvest. The measured yield amount helps farmer to plan feeding for the coming winter. In addition, yield data can be used to plan future site-specific cultivation activities to improve yield level. In this study, measuring devices were installed to the round baler to measure bale formation during baling. Strain gauges, which measured the deflection of the balers shaft, were used to weigh the bales. In addition, the torque and rotation speed of the PTO (power take-off) shaft between the tractor and the baler during bale formation were determined. The GPS receiver made it possible to track the movements of the tractor in the field. The measurements were performed in the fields of Viikki research farm in the summer of 2015 with measuring devices installed in the farm’s own baler. Measurements were carried out on several baling times. The first measurement results of the summer turned out to be incorrect and the operation of the equipment was improved as the summer progressed. Valid and comparable measurement data were collected from the baled grass field in the autumn. To ensure the reliability of the results, 97 bales baled from one grass field were weighed on a separate scale and the results were compared with the results measured with a measuring device. According to the results, the measuring device was able to determine the weight of the bales relatively accurately. On average, from this sample of 97 bales, the bales weighed with measuring devices were on average 20 kilos lighter than those weighed with the scale. 63 % of the bales measured with measuring devices were within ±90 kilos of the weighed bales. Measurement results were utilized to prepare a yield map to describe the variation of yield levels on the field. The measuring devices built in the study proved to be a good method for weighing round bales during harvest after fine-tuning. The measurement system presented in the study requires additional work to make it consumer-friendly and easy for the machine operator to control.