Materials handling conference_ Conference on farmstead engineering- Availability of solar energy - New impetus on use of solar energy. New sources of electric energy required. How to adapt existing buildings for more efficient production. - Lower cost, more efficient, and more flexible buildings for tomorrow.. Brief review of current research and potential applications__. Construction materials and methods. - Earth building blocks stabilized with portland cement. Mortar-surfaced polystyrene building panels - Sheet materials for hyperbolic paraboloid (HP) roofs.. Conventional and horizontal silos to store grass crops as low- ΧΙ Brief projection of research and development needs. Solar energy and new collectors Saving materials in farming... New sources of energy Electroreclamation.... Construction materials and methods_ Develop methods of lowering the cost of construction of com- Refine the techniques of farm building design to make construc- Utilize materials to eliminate the expense of obsolescence in farm Find methods of lowering the cost of production through better Improve the use of materials and the methods of combining them Reduce two major avenues of heat loss from buildings-infiltration Improve greenhouse construction.. Farmstead utilities and equipment_ Water supply. Wastes disposal.. References.. 1. Major materials used in farm structures and related equipment__ 2. Dollar value of farm buildings in the United States___ 3. Farm production assets_ 4. Steel is now widely used in farm structures. This is a modern dairy building under construction__ 5. Treated poles make good durable low-cost structures. plot at Beltsville, Md., poles with different embedments were checked 2350 8 In this test 10 12 13 6. Average total daily insolation rates for June days on a horizontal surface on the ground, langleys per day.. 7. Insolation rates for June 21 for variously oriented surfaces at 35° north 8. Experimental structure using mortar-surfaced polystyrene building These panels are lightweight, 9. Agricultural engineers testing experimental hyperbolic paraboloid (HP) roof at Beltsville, Md. The HP roof shape conserves material by using light sheets carrying their load in tension rather than heavier structural members in compression or bending- 10. Agricultural engineer checks pressures of silage against walls of experimental silo at Athens, Ga. A good silo preserves the nutrient value of that renewable resource, grass, so that it may be stored for use as feed for livestock___ 11. Agricultural engineer evaluates pavement strength. Yard and lot pavement materials must resist pressure and abrasion from hooves and manure and other chemical attack, as well as weathering and traffic loads__ 12. Water is a precious material on the farmstead-precious enough to measure. This schematic diagram illustrates the essential elements of a system developed to measure, record, and analyze its use automatically. 13. Agricultural engineer checking water-use measuring equipment mounted in recording van__ 20 21 35 24 26 27 14. The "manure lagoon" is becoming increasingly popular on the modern livestock farmstead. It is economical and convenient but a potential sanitation and esthetic hazard if not properly constructed and 15. Plastic film covered solar absorber of black-painted corrugated metal to transfer solar energy to rock storage unit below ground and to a heat pump for house heating in Kansas...... 16. A solar grain dryer constructed of thin clear plastic to heat natural air to dry high moisture content grain--- 17. Experimental plastic covered solar collectors for heating water... CONSERVING MATERIALS AND ENERGY IN FARMSTEAD OPERATIONS A Report to the Committee on Public Works, U.S. Senate, May 1962 INTRODUCTION We are in the midst of a technological revolution, sparked by scientific and engineering research, that is changing our agriculture and our way of living. It is evidenced in "new and more efficient machines, sources of power, ways of getting work done; in better ways of transporting, processing, storing, and marketing food; and in the wiser and more effective use of resources" (5)'. The effective and efficient use of farmstead structures, equipment, and energy (the work of the agricultural engineer) is essential to the production of plenty of good food-one of man's basic needs-in a democratic, civilized society such as ours (22). The work of the agricultural engineer has been instrumental in providing our agriculture with the power to produce that has made the United States the well-fed Nation it is (29). Agriculture is this Nation's greatest user of energy. Agriculture uses more petroleum than any other industry plus 27 billion kilowatthours of electric energy annually. The increasing use of energy, and the resulting depletion of our Nation's supply, presents a challenge not only to make efficient use of what we have but also to devise new uses for our renewable energy. In the United States today one man on the farm produces the food for about 27 of his fellow Americans, which leaves them free to carry on the industry, commerce, and other facets of our national economy, including its defense (30, p. 3). That man—the farmer-needs efficient buildings and he uses many materials to get them (fig. 1.). Every one of the nearly 4 million (33, p. 1) farms in the United States requires some structures and equipment-homes for the workers; shelters and processing buildings for livestock and products; storage for feed, supplies, machinery, and products; and miscellaneous utility and service facilities such as water supplies, waste disposal installations, yard and lot pavements, fences, feeders, and veterinary and handling facilities for stock (fig. 2). On January 1, 1961, these structures and related equipment were being used in handling livestock and poultry having a total cash value of $15.5 billion (32, table 9). During 1960, 7.1 million farmworkers (31, table 6H) used these structures and equipment in producing livestock, crops, and other agricultural products that had an aggregate cash value of $35.4 billion (31, tables 9H and 12H) and from which farmers earned an average net income of $2,056 (31, table 6H) each. Italicized figures in parentheses refer to references, p. 41. |