Agriculture
MIT researchers harness tree power to fight wildfires
While specialist fire-fighting crews, squadrons of trucks and water-bombing helicopters all play an important role, access to reliable and timely information on fire behavior is among the most critical of all the tools used to combat wild fires and prevent the loss of life, livestock and property damage. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers are now working on a system that uses energy from the trees themselves to power a network of temperature and humidity sensors that act as remote weather stations to aid in fire management. Read More
Looking more like an alien spacecraft than a sprinkler, Aquarius is an irrigation control system designed by Aydin Oztoprak and Ozgur Ruhi Ulvan. Solar powered and remote managed, Aquarius automatically adjusts its water flow depending on the soil, crop and weather conditions, making it one very intelligent piece of eco-friendly water design. Read More
It helps to have friends in high places, even when you’ve got four legs, as a Kansas dairy cow named Wilhelmina recently found out. The 8-year-old Jersey cow ruptured the cruciate ligament in her right knee in a breeding injury but thanks to her owner, she was about to receive a knee reconstruction. Dr. Anderson, professor and head of agricultural practices at Kansas State College of Veterinary Medicine replaced the cow’s cruciate ligament using synthetic material called monofilament nylon and dubbed the "Wildcat Power Cord". Read More
RoboTrac: pre-programmable, semi-autonomous tractor concept
February 14, 2008 Designed to perform a range of pre-programmed agricultural tasks in vineyards, coffee farms, orchards and nurseries, this futuristic driver-less tractor concept aims to boost efficiency, minimize crop damage and remove humans for hazardous environments using GPS and Internet to track its location. The Valtra RoboTrac from 25 year old Estonian industrial designer Hannes Seeberg - whose portfolio also includes an intriguing Skylift self-propelled boarding aircraft boarding system - combines an 85 hp engine diesel engine and rear-wheel steering in either a two or four wheel drive configuration with the remotely programmable computerized navigation system to enable anything from tilling and plowing to planting and spraying. Read More
February 12, 2008 Wireless sensor specialist Crossbow Technology has announced the forthcoming release of a new precision agricultural monitoring system that uses a network of solar-powered sensors to deliver critical real-time data on crop health via an Internet browser. Read More
September 18, 2007 The EOS Estate Winery has announced a $3.8 million plan to convert its California Central Coast winery entirely to solar power. To be completed by April, the project will include the installation of more than two acres of ground-mounted tracking solar arrays that will provide all the electrical power needs for the winery and tasting room, while additional roof-mounted solar arrays will provide all the hot water needs. The system will be installed by SunTechnics and will contain 3,084 photovoltaic modules totalling 540 kWp and 60 solar hot water collectors. Read More
June 25, 2007 Building and maintaining fences for controlling livestock places a huge financial burden on agricultural producers worldwide, but is there really any need for all those posts and wires? This is the question posed by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization (CSIRO) which has come up with a virtual fencing solution applicable to cattle and sheep farming. Using a GPS system to define fence boundaries and a specially designed collar that alerts the animal to the fact that it has reached the “fence”, a prototype of the system has now been successfully demonstrated on a herd of cattle. Read More
June 21, 2007 Sitting somewhere between a golf cart, an ATV and a tiny utility, Kubota's RTV1100 is a curious-looking vehicle. But this fun little diesel-powered 1123cc getabout delivers a new level of quiet, air-conditioned comfort, hard-working, all-terrain performance and roll-cage safety. These and other practical innovations should combine to make it a very popular vehicle for those who work on large, spread-out properties. Read More
May 28, 2007 Genetically selecting for superior produce has been a staple of farming for hundreds of years. The dairy industry is now looking at how it can selectively breed dairy cows to bring their output closer to the way consumers are choosing to use it. In particular, they're having good results identifying cows that can produce tasty low-fat 'skim' milk - which accounts for 75% of milk sold in some countries. What's more, they've also found a cow whose butter is spreadable right out of the fridge. Her name? Marge. Read More
