Julie Kalista
Online Editor
Iowa State University researchers recently field-tested a system they're developing to harvest corn stover (the stalks, cobs and leaves) and grain with one pass through a field. |
The researchers are developing attachments for standard combines that could save farmers thousands of dollars by letting them harvest an entire field in one pass. The machine has a modified row-crop-header and corn-reel attached to the front and a chopper-and-blower on the back. The header and reel feed leaves and stalks into the combine so the biomass can be harvested before it touches the ground and is contaminated with soil. The chopper cuts it all up into 2-in. pieces and the blower throws them into a wagon.
Some of the challenges are increasing harvest capacity, economical transportation of the machine, and biomass storage.
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