Masters Theses
Date of Award
8-1995
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Major
Biosystems Engineering Technology
Major Professor
Bobby L Bledsoe
Committee Members
Robert Freeland, Burton C. English
Abstract
Economic feasibility was determined for the 32-bale, solar-heated, forced air drying facility at the Middle Tennessee Experiment Station during the 1994 hay season. The third and fourth hay crops of alfalfa (medicago sativa) were used in experiments comparing nutrient content and value of artificially and field dried hay. Under the nearly ideal harvest conditions of these experiments, with current costs, and an expected 20 year life of the facility, the dryer is not economically feasible if used only to dry hay. The value added to the hay by artificially drying was not sufficient to overcome the cost of drying, the difference being $13.42 per ton of hay.
Analyses were done for hay harvested at the proper stage of maturity and for hay harvested at late maturity, as would occur if the producer waited for a period of no rain to prevent hay from being damaged. For mature hay, the excess cost over value added was calculated to be $12.17 per ton.
The facility was designed for multiple use. If 15 percent of the capital costs are allotted to grain drying, and 38 percent to machinery storage, the excess of cost over value added to hay by artificially drying was calculated to be $7.31 per ton. However, this figure does not account for the value added to the grain or to machine life when stored under shelter.
Value added by artificially drying in this experiment was below expectations. Previous experiments have shown greater value added. Bales were removed from the dryer in this experiment when the mean moisture content of the "wettest" bale was below 19 percent. Bales were removed from the dryer in previous experiments only when no heat generation occurred in any bale during an overnight period with the dryer inoperative. This procedure, in effect, assured that even wet pockets within a bale were dry, which was not assured by a mean bale moisture content below 19 percent.
Dry matter losses from mowing-conditioning, raking, baling, drying and storage were measured to determine if differences exist when hay is baled at high moisture content and artificially dried rather than being allowed to dry in the field. All collected losses were analyzed for nutritional content. These measurements showed notable differences in dry matter losses between the two preservation methods from harvest through storage. The main differences resulted from raking and drying practices.
Total digestible nutrients and crude protein were used to assign a value in dollars per ton of hay. After four to six months of storage there was no (P > .05) difference in the value per ton of hay baled at high moisture and artificially dried and that field dried and baled at low moisture content.
Opportunity benefits of the dryer (the ability to harvest hay during periods of less than ideal weather conditions) were not considered in the cost/ benefit analysis conducted, but should be included in further work.
Recommended Citation
Hobby, Henry Mitchell, "An economic evaluation of selected hay drying methods and dry matter losses from harvesting in Middle Tennessee. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1995.
https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/6879