Hay & Forage

K. R. Kirk, P. J. Loftis, J. G. Andrae, G. S. Sell. 2018. Presented at the 2018 AFGC Annual Meeting. January 14-17, 2018. Louisville, Ky. The precision agriculture technologies generally associated with row crop production can be equally beneficial to forage crops. One key aspect of precision agriculture allows the producer to assess and manage for spatial variability in his fields; simply put: different areas of each field have different needs. ...

K. R. Kirk. 2017. Hay & Forage Grower: April/May 2017 (pg. 14). Site-specific and variable rate technologies are widely known and applied today in row crops, in many instances being driven by and evaluated by yield monitors. These technologies are a subset of a wider subject known as precision agriculture, where crop decisions are data-driven. ...

K. R. Kirk, G. S. Sell, J. Andrae, P. J. Loftis. 2017. Presented at the 2017 AFGC Annual Meeting. January 22-24, 2017. Roanoke, Va. Yield monitors are now decades-old technology on the row crop farm, being commercially available for corn, small grains, and cotton. In fact, many of today’s grain combines are equipped with yield monitors as standard equipment. Although some work has been done in evaluation and development of yield monitoring systems for hay production, only one system for yield monitoring hay is commercially available and yield monitors are not broadly utilized in hay production. ...

H. G. Ramsey IV, K. R. Kirk, G. S. Sell, J. Andrae, Y. J. Han, M. J. Fischer. 2015. ASABE Paper No. 152190030. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE. Corn, grain and cotton yield monitoring technologies have been widely implemented since their development and throughout the past twenty years. Yield monitoring has been indicated to be the second most applied precision agriculture technology, behind auto-steer. However, commercially available technologies are for yield monitoring crops other than corn, cotton, and grain have not been widely available, if available at all. ...

H. G. Ramsey IV, K. R. Kirk, G. S. Sell, J. Andrae, Y. J. Han, M. J. Fischer. 2015. ASABE Paper No. 152190035. St. Joseph, Mich.: ASABE. Yield monitoring technology is readily available for corn, soybeans, small grains, and cotton. Yield monitoring has not been widely implemented for forage and hay production. This research focuses on development and testing of a yield monitor for hay crops that remotely measures the height of the grass on-the-go during mowing. ...

K. R. Kirk, H. G. Ramsey IV. 2019. U.S. Patent No. 10,188,025 B2. Disclosed are methods and systems for determining the amount of material contained in a windrow. In particular embodiments, the methods and systems are applicable to agricultural applications, and in particular to hay yield monitoring. Systems include a remote sensing technology to determine windrow height. Remote sensing methods can include ultrasonic sensors, optical sensors, and the like. Systems can provide real time yield data. ...

K. R. Kirk, H. G. Ramsey IV, P. J. Loftis. 2017. U.S. Patent Application No. 2017/0013783 A1. Yield monitoring systems for round baling machines and methods that can provide weight estimations for round bales at the time of formation are described. Balers can include those that incorporate hydraulically actuated bale kicking or pushing assemblies as well as those that incorporate spring-loaded off ramps. Farm implements including baling machines and cotton module builders are encompassed. The system includes a sensor that can ascertain a physical parameter associated with ejection of a round bale from the farm implement. Physical parameters as may be ascertained can include pressures, velocities, accelerations, etc. associated with bale ejection. ...

C. Colmenares. 2016. The Clemson Newsstand. October 19, 2016. Clemson, S.C.: Clemson University. The Clemson University Research Foundation (CURF) has announced six recipients of fiscal year 2017 Technology Maturation Fund awards. The CURF Technology Maturation Fund provides grants to faculty to support the last critical development step needed to move their technology to the marketplace. ...

S. Miller. 2016. The Clemson Newsstand. May 26, 2016. Clemson, S.C.: Clemson University. Agricultural engineers at Clemson University have developed technology to tell farmers exactly where to apply fertilizers to their hay fields and how much to use to maximize profits. “Hay is the No. 3 commercial crop in the United States, yet it is does not have a broadly implemented yield monitor,” said graduate research assistant Perry Loftis, who is working with Clemson agriculture engineer Kendall Kirk to rectify that. ...

K. R. Kirk. 2018. Presented at the 2018 Edisto REC Hay Clinic. September 20, 2018. Blackville, SC. ...

P. J. Loftis, K. R. Kirk, J. D. Mueller, J. G. Andrae, G. S. Sell. 2017. Presented at the 2017 Piedmont REC Row Crop Field Day. August 25, 2017. Pendleton, SC. ...

H. G. Ramsey IV, P. J. Loftis, K. R. Kirk, G. S. Sell, J. G. Andrae, Y. J. Han. 2016. Presented at the 2016 ASABE Annual International Meeting. July 17-20, 2016. Orlando, Fla. ...

P. J. Loftis, K. R. Kirk, G. S. Sell, J. Andrae. (2016). Presented at the 2016 Piedmont REC Field Day. August 20, 2016. Pendleton, SC. ...

P. J. Loftis. 2017. MS thesis. Clemson, SC: Clemson University, Plant and Environmental Sciences. [Graduate Committee: K. R. Kirk, J. Andrae, J. D. Mueller]. Mass flow sensor algorithms were developed for a hay yield monitoring system using ultrasonic sensors to measure windrow height. The developed mass flow algorithms were used in a nitrogen rate strip test on a 25 ac irrigated Tifton 85 bermudagrass field. A second method of measuring hay yield was also developed and tested utilizing sensors mounted to spring-loaded bale ramps on round balers. ...

H. G. Ramsey IV. 2015. MS thesis. Clemson, SC: Clemson University, Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. [Graduate Committee: K. R. Kirk, J. Andrae, Y. J. Han]. Three independent technologies related to hay yield monitoring were developed and studied. One technology involved comparison of infrared and ultrasonic sensors on a self-propelled forage harvester. The same model sensors that were used on the self-propelled forage harvester were installed on a boom that was mounted to the tongue of a round hay baler to measure windrow height, which was then used to estimate mass flow rate and therefore crop yield. In the third technology presented, a pressure transducer was installed on the hydraulic bale kicker circuit on two different round balers. ...