Charles V. Schwab

Midwest vision for sustainable fuel production.

This article charts the progress of CenUSA Bioenergy, a USDA-NIFA-AFRI coordinated agricultural project focused on the North Central region of the US. CenUSA’s vision is to develop a regional system for producing fuels and other products from perennial grass crops grown on marginally productive land or land that is otherwise unsuitable for annual cropping. This article focuses on contributions CenUSA has made to nine primary systems needed to make this vision a reality: feedstock improvement; feedstock production on marginal land; feedstock logistics; modeling system performance; feedstock conversion into biofuels and other products; marketing; health and safety; education, and outreach. The final section, Future Perspectives, sets forth a roadmap of additional research, technology development and education required to realize commercialization.

The effects of age and type of carrying task on lower extremity kinematics

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of age, load amount and load symmetry on lower extremity kinematics during carrying tasks. Forty-two participants in four age groups (8–10 years, 12–14 years, 15–17 years and adults) carried loads of 0%, 10% and 20% body weight (BW) in large or small buckets unilaterally and bilaterally. Reflective markers were tracked to determine total joint range of motion and maximum joint angles during the stance phase of walking. Maximum hip extension, hip adduction and hip internal rotation angles were significantly greater for each of the child/adolescent age groups as compared with adults. In addition, maximum hip internal rotation angles significantly increased when carrying a 20% BW load. The observation that the 8–10-year-old age group carried the lightest absolute loads and still displayed the highest maximum hip internal rotation angles suggests a particular necessity in setting carrying guidelines for the youngest children. Statement of Relevance: Bucket-carrying tasks were analysed as a function of age group, load amount and load symmetry. Hip joint rotations significantly increased when carrying 20% BW loads and in children as compared to adults, which suggests a particular necessity in setting carrying guidelines for the youngest age group (8–10 year olds).

Quantifying Stressors Among Iowa Farmers

In order to identify events/activities that are particularly stressful for farmers/ranchers, afarm stress survey based on the proportionate scaling method was mailed to a stratified random sample of 3000 Iowa farmers by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. The participants were asked to compare 62 life events and farm activities to a marriage (assigned a baseline rating of 50), decide if it was less stressful or more stressful, and then assign a stress rating between 1 and 100. As expected, the most stressful events were the death of a spouse or child. Other high-stress events were disabling injuries, foreclosure on a mortgage, divorce, machinery breakdown during harvest, and loss of crop to weather. Mean stress ratings varied by age, marital status, and type of farming enterprise. Farmers between the ages of 40-59 and 60-79 had the most items with high stress levels. Females had more high-stress items than males. Divorced farmers had fewer high-stress items than other respondents. Farmers whose primary focus was raising horses had more high-stress items than other farm types. Significant outcomes of this study go beyond the specific mean stress ratings of the events and activities. The results indicate that farm stressors can be quantified using the proportionate scaling method and that the impact of the stressor is based not just on the event but is also dependent on the characteristics of the farmer (e.g., age, gender, marital status, etc.).

An Investigation of Three Physical Parameters of PTO Entanglements

The PTO driveline is the most common means of transferring power from a tractor to towed machinery and stationary equipment. While equipment manufacturers install shielding to protect operators and bystanders from coming in contact with operating PTO components (particularly around the knuckle), entanglement is still a cause of some of the most catastrophic agricultural work-related injuries. This study investigated the influence of material type, material length, and angle of material introduction on entanglements with a spinning PTO shaft knuckle. These variables were tested using a laboratory PTO apparatus where 165 entanglements were recorded during the 720 trials conducted. The results indicate that lighter materials, such as cotton thread, have a significantly higher probability of becoming entangled than heavier materials, such as leather bootlaces. Materials that were longer (i.e., extend further below the midline of the PTO knuckle) have higher probabilities of becoming entangled than do shorter materials. The horizontal path that the material traveled across the centerline of the PTO shaft impacted the probability of entanglement. When the angle of intersection of the horizontal path of travel relative to the centerline of the PTO shaft is 90 degrees, or close to 90 degrees, a higher probability of entanglement occurs. All 165 entanglements occurred on the downward rotational side of the PTO knuckle regardless of which side the horizontal path of travel started from. The results of this study provide the first look at understanding the physical phenomena associated with the initial stages of PTO entanglements and set the stage for future research.

Use of Engineering Controls and Personal Protective Equipment by Certified Pesticide Applicators

A convenience survey of 702 certified pesticide applicators was conducted in three states to assess the use of 16 types of engineering controls and 13 types of personal protective equipment (PPE). Results showed that 8 out of 16 engineering devices were adopted by more than 50% of the respondents. The type of crop, size of agricultural operation, and the type of pesticide application equipment were found to influence the adoption of engineering controls. Applicators working on large farms, users of boom and hydraulic sprayers, and growers of field crops were more likely to use engineering devices. Respondents reported a high level of PPE use, with chemical-resistant gloves showing the highest level of compliance. An increase in pesticide applicators wearing appropriate headgear was reported. The majority of respondents did not wear less PPE simply because they used engineering controls. Those who did modify their PPE choices when employing engineering controls used tractors with enclosed cabs and/or were vegetable growers.

Evaluation of Tractor and Grain Wagon Safety Marking at Selected Commercial Iowa Grain Elevators

The three categories of agents involved in the largest number of agricultural fatalities in Iowa are tractors, other farm machinery, and motor vehicles. All are involved during harvest as grain is transported on public roadways. Forty-eight percent of all motor vehicle collisions involving farm equipment in Iowa occur from October through December. Tractors and wagons delivering grain to six elevators during fall harvest were evaluated. Vocational agriculture student teams inspected for compliance with Iowa code and ASAE standards for lighting, marking, hitch, and ROPS safety equipment. A majority of tractors complied with safety standards for: headlights, front amber flashing lights, slow moving vehicle (SMV) emblem, and roll over protection structure (ROPS). Tractors less than eight years old met Iowa code and ASAE safety standards for rear amber flashing lights and rear taillight.Tractors less than 15 years old were more likely to be equipped with ROPS (98%) than were tractors more than 15 years old (67%). Compliance with safety items other than ROPS did not significantly differ among tractor age groups. A majority of wagons at the elevators complied with ASAE safety standards for an SMV emblem and retainer on the hitch pin. Other wagon safety items all had lower compliance than all tractor safety items. Language: en

Agricultural Worker Injury Comparative Risk Assessment Methodology: Assessing Corn and Biofuel Switchgrass Production Systems

Keeping workers safe is a continuing challenge in agricultural production. Risk assessment methodologies have been used widely in other industries to better understand systems and enhance decision making, yet their use in production agriculture has been limited. This article describes the considerations and the approach taken to measure the difference in worker injury risks between two agricultural production systems. A model was developed specifically for the comparison of worker injury risk between corn and biofuel switchgrass production systems. The model is composed of injury and exposure values that were used in a Monte Carlo simulation. The output of this risk assessment shows that approximately 99% of the values from the Monte Carlo simulation rank corn production as a greater worker injury risk than biofuel switchgrass production. Furthermore, the greatest contributing factors for each production system were identified as harvest, and that finding aligns with current literature.

Contributing Causes of Injury or Death in Grain Entrapment, Engulfment, and Extrication

ABSTRACT Objectives: Grain entrapments and engulfments are one of most common hazards associated with grain storage facilities, with over 1,140 such entrapments/engulfments documented since the 1970s. The objective of the study was to determine the factors that contribute to injury or death in grain entrapment, engulfment, and extrication cases. Methods: A literature review, including data contained in the Purdue Agricultural Confined Spaces Incident Database (PACSID), was conducted to determine the conditions that the body experiences during an entrapment or engulfment in grains and during extrication efforts. Results: Based on the review, the conditions a human body faces during an entrapment, engulfment, or extraction can be split into two broad categories—environmental and physiological/psychological. The environmental factors depend on the grain’s properties, depth of entrapment or engulfment, position of the victim’s body, and characteristics of the storage unit, which include the grain’s lateral pressure, vertical pressure, and weight, as well as friction, oxygen availability and diffusion rate, and grain temperature. The physiological and psychological factors are related to the individual’s age and physical and psychological conditions, and manifest themselves in terms of oxygen consumption, asphyxiation (including aspiration, lack of oxygen, compression or splinting of the thorax), blood flow, and heart rate. Conclusion: Of all the above factors, a review of fatality data contained in the PACSID indicate that aspiration, asphyxiation, grain weight, and lateral pressure are most likely the primary cause of death for most entrapment victims. Research gaps found by this study include an understanding of the impact of lateral pressure on lung expansion and oxygen availability and consumption rate, and the need for more case studies to accurately determine cause of death.

Estimating Passive Stress Acting on a Grain Entrapment Victim’s Chest

Grain entrapments remain a major concern in the grain industry, with 1,100 incidents documented since the 1970s. One particular concern is the ability of a victim to breathe while entrapped in grain. Anecdotal reports suggest that victims struggle to breathe when entrapped in grain to a depth that covers their chests, yet some evidence indicates that victims should be able to breathe normally as long as their airways are not blocked regardless of depth. The hypothesis for this discrepancy is that previously published experiments measured an active stress state in the grain, while a person breathing also experiences a passive stress state during inhalation. The passive stress is significantly larger than the active stress. The objective of this study was to measure the passive stress when pushing against grain, such as during inhalation, and compare it to active stress state measurements. An MTS Criterion testing machine, which is a force deformation testing device, was used to push a block horizontally against a column of grain and record the force and displacement during the movement. The measured passive stress was calculated from the force and displacement values and ranged from 9.4 to 11.0 kPa at a depth of 20 to 30 cm. These values are three to four times larger than previously published measurements of stresses at similar depths. This result indicates that the discrepancy between experimental results and anecdotal reports is most likely due to the type of stress state experienced in grain entrapment. Findings imply that the pressures on the victims chest during entrapment are sufficient to cause breathing difficulties or crush/positional asphyxiation in some cases. A full-scale study is recommended.

Likelihood of Entanglement when Materials are Dropped Vertically onto a Rotating PTO Knuckle

Power take-off (PTO) is a common method of transferring power from a tractor to a towed piece of machinery. The PTO is also a well-documented cause of severe and often permanent disabling injuries to farm operators. The physical conditions that cause entanglements are not well established. Several studies have explored the parameters of PTO entanglements as materials have been drawn across a rotating PTO knuckle to test for entanglement probability. The objective of this study was to determine probability of entanglement when materials are dropped vertically onto a PTO knuckle spinning at 540 rpm. A total of 360 randomized trials were conducted with ten replications for each of the six positions (center of yoke, edge of yoke rotating downward, edge of yoke rotating upward, center of cross, edge of cross rotating downward, and edge of cross rotating upward) and six different materials (woven cotton athletic shoe lace, cotton workboot lace, leather workboot lace, cotton twine, denim strip, and Tyvek strip). Not a single entanglement was recorded. Dramatic high-speed video imagery authenticated the materials motion and path as it interacted with the rotating PTO knuckle.