BRIEF PROJECTION OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT NEEDS Some of the problems of agricultural engineering in developing and using new materials and energy in this Nation's agriculture have been discussed in this report. Specific needs for a projected research and development program are outlined below. SOLAR ENERGY AND NEW COLLECTORS Develop solar collectors, systems, or controls for- Heating poultry or livestock shelters to improve production efficiency. Drying grain or forage. Conditioning fruit and vegetables. Curing tobacco. Heating water for household use. Heating water for dairy and milking parlors. Heating water for livestock. Operating solar cooling systems. Heating plastic greenhouses and growth chambers. SAVING MATERIALS IN FARMING Develop a suitable attractant (such as forms of electromagnetic radiation and sonic energy) for attracting economic insects to a trap for capturing or destroying them to save the applications of tons of chemicals likely to endanger our food supply. Develop a suitable trap for capturing insects for survey purposes. Develop a suitable killing device to kill insects attracted but not to be retained. NEW SOURCES OF ENERGY Develop power supplies that can be used where conventional electric service is not available, including Fuel cells that have shown greater efficiency than central station services. Biochemical cells that have demonstrated the ability to use waste material by micro-organisms to supply electric energy. Thermoelectric generators capable of operating insect traps a suitable length of time and for operating other agricultural equipment. Solar photovoltaic cell power supply suitable for powering remotely located equipment. ELECTRORECLAMATION Develop a method of reducing alkali soil conditions by passing a direct current under controlled conditions to obtain a suitable ion exchange. CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS Develop methods of lowering the cost of construction of comfortable and convenient farm houses Apply the concepts of pole barn construction to techniques for framing houses. Study methods of eliminating costs of sheathing sidewalls of houses. Develop a flooring system that retains the economy of slab-ongrade construction, yet has the warmth and resilience of a suspended wooden floor. Develop foundation systems for lightweight houses that will prevent the serious damage caused by the swelling and shrinkage of certain clays-particularly montmorillinite-but cost no more than conventional foundations. Develop a roof-convering material that will permit the general type of builtup roof construction to be used on steeper pitches. Investigate methods of fabricating hyperbolic paraboloid roofs built of sheet materials. These roofs can use the inherent strength of the sheet, and result in an economy of materials. Refine the techniques of farm-building design to make construction less wasteful of materials Restudy the design live and dead loads used for sizing structural members and their connections, using the latest data available from the Weather Bureau, supplemented by measurements of loads imposed on actual buildings by oscillating wind forces. Analyze the feasibility of a new approach to building design based on the factor of reliability of the structure. This reliability depends on the probability of occurrence of given loads coupled with the combinations of the probability of failure of the structural members and their connections when subjected to the probable loads. The reliability can then be gaged according to the use of the structure. For example, a larger reliability factor is required where human life and limb are endangered by a failure, than for a hay storage shed. We are approaching a point in our economy where we can give more attention to the refinements of design to accomplish savings in materials. Review the conventional uses of footings in buildings to justify or eliminate the rule of thumb that footings for lightweight structures should be 16 inches wide and 8 inches deep. Formulate theories that permit closer design of nailed joints between wooden structural members where proved by tests. Utilize materials to eliminate the expense of obsolescence in farm buildings Investigate air-supported structures to compare their performance and economy with conventional construction. Investigate the construction of barns and houses that can readily be altered or remodeled to take advantage of new developments. Find methods of lowering the cost of production through better climatic control within animal structures Determine the role of insulation and ventilation on the incidence. of chronic respiratory disease and its attendant condemnations of broilers. Find methods of insulating animal production structures to eliminate the drastic climatic environments that may cause loss of production or even death of farm animals. Improve the use of materials and the methods of combining them into structures Find ways to use the unique properties of heavily reinforced thin section concrete to make lighter weight curtain wall panels. Incorporate insulation in such panels so the wall will serve a more useful function yet the cost will not exceed masonry construction. Study the use of heavily reinforced concrete for roofs. Develop paneled buildings that could be operated similar to the Japanese home. The walls can either be easily removed or slid to one side to open the building for summer production of livestock. Use new materials to supplement the old to give better structures at no more cost. This process is continuous. Aluminum is widely used in construction. Satisfactory windows have been made of aluminum combined with glass and neoprene gaskets. Use of latex mortars for laying up brick walls may greatly reduce the cost of brickwork by permitting thinner wall sections. Reduce two major avenues of heat loss from buildings—Infiltration and leakage through windows Design a window with a closure so that when the window is not functioning to admit light or ventilate it will be insulated to reduce heat flow through it. Design draperies to make them functional in preventing heat passage and infiltration. They should be both esthetic and useful at little extra cost. Find ways to better employ heat exchangers to avoid discharging the latent heat of vaporization into the outside air. Improve greenhouse construction Improve the construction, use of materials, and the climate within greenhouses. The United States lags far behind continental Europe in the production of high quality vegetables in greenhouses. Water supply FARMSTEAD UTILITIES AND EQUIPMENT Develop comprehensive information on the water demands and design requirements for modern farmstead water supply systems. This information is needed by Industry for planning production programs. Extension workers for guiding farmers on water problems. Farmers for planning water systems and selecting equipment. Develop simpler, more reliable, and less costly methods and equipment for treating farmstead water supplies to improve their quality. Sanitary quality.—All surface (pond, stream) supplies must be regarded as polluted and health agencies are finding increasing numbers of wells that are polluted and in need of disinfection before use for domestic purposes. Chlorination, the standard disinfection procedure for municipal and community supplies, has frequently been unsatisfactory when applied to farmstead supplies. Means for improving chlorinating equipment and procedures for farmstead application, or development of alternate treatments such as pasteurization, need to be investigated. Chemical quality.-Many ground waters are hard or contain iron, manganese, sulfur, or other mineral salts that adversely affect their usefulness. Some waters are corrosive, which is also undesirable. Investigations to improve available equipment and methods of treatment are needed. Physical quality.-Turbidity, odor, or color impair the quality of water for some uses. Means for removal should be studied to develop improvements in equipment and procedures presently available to the farmer. Wastes disposal Develop improved methods for disposing of sewage on the farmstead and in small rural communities under 2,500 population. The septic tank system is generally regarded as the best available for the purpose but it is unsatisfactory under such adverse conditions as nonabsorptive soils, ground water or rock close to the surface, and building sites of restricted area. New methods of disposal need to be devised and developed for use under these adverse conditions. Develop sanitary and economical means for disposing of organic wastes, principally manures, on the farmstead. Our farm animal population drops more than 2 billion tons of manure in and around our farm buildings annually. Practically all of this must be handled by the farmworker. If not handled properly it can become a sanitation hazard, as well as an esthetic nuisance. This is particularly true where metropolitan areas are spreading out into formerly agricultural areas. A number of disposal means should be investigated as follows: Lagoons (stabilization or oxidation ponds) into which manure is flushed and allowed to oxidize and stabilize. Irrigation systems in which manure is flushed into a pit, agitated to suspend the solid particles, and pumped as a liquid to irrigation as needed. Subsurface absorption systems in which manure is flushed to a settling tank for settling out the solids and from which the liquid is drained to subsurface absorption similar to that used in the septic tank system. Treatments for reclamation and reuse on the farmstead for flushing and other purposes not requiring a potable water. REFERENCES (1) Abbot, C. G. 1939. Utilizing heat from the sun. In Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections (1938) 98(5): 1–11. [Report of materials [Report of farmstead (2) American Society of Agricultural Engineers. 1958. handling conference.] Agr. Engin. 39(9): 497-612. (3) American Society of Agricultural Engineers. 1960. engineering conference.] Agr. Engin. 41(9):537–660. (4) Ashby, Wallace, [Chairman]. 1958. Report of the committee on farm structures research needs and statistics. Amer. Soc. Agr. 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