Farming Design Problems

H.A.M

Hey everybody.
I am a design student and I am currently undergoing my Final Year Design Project. I have decided that I want my designs to be based on the topic of farming.
For this I first of all need to identify where the main problems are arising for modern day farmers.
I live on a farm myself and I have identified a few problems myself but I would be very interested to get the opinions of the farmers on boards.ie.
I would really appreciate everyone's help. Any problem is perfectly valid and equally important however big or small.

So basically, what are the the problems that you are encountering in modern day farming?

Thanks in advance to everyone.

reilig

1. Weather
2. Prices for cattle
3. Prices for inputs

Are any of these related to design?

blue5000

1cattle handling facilities
2 tractor seat/cab comfort still leaves a lot to be desired

pakalasa

Do you mean design of farm machinery, buildings or what?

Bizzum

H.A.M wrote: »

So basically, what are the the problems that you are encountering in modern day farming?

Online questionnaires.:eek:

H.A.M

Thanks for the replies lads.

All of these replies are valid.
Just to let you know that it is Product design that I am doing. I can basically undergo designing anything as such. Any problem that farmers have has to potential for a product to be designed to improve it.
For example some of the problems I am aware of are,
1. Tractors bringing amounts of mud and dirt onto the roads and causing slippery surfaces.
2. PTO safety guards are constantly breaking and/or not being used properly.
3. Waste material removal.
4. Large amounts of work coming in one tight period of time causing farmers to take safety risks.

Basically let me know of anything ye find to be a big pain in the arse

Thanks again

6480

weather and uncertain product prices, lack of finance,long hours, strees at harvest times and in busy spring calvings or maybe HAM u need a week on a busy dariy farm

Figerty

Trying to balance working life with part time farming. Design of facilities and processes to the make it workable.
Things like calving facilities and monitoring of these when working. Planning AI when you aren't there to meet the AI man. Facilites to suit the same.
Housing and feeding of stock in Winter when it's mainly done in the dark.
Security is also an issue when working away from the farm. Calves being stolen this year and also equipemnt/scrap metal.

blue5000

Thought of something else after reading this last night. Why do we still have fertiliser in 50kg bags?
Every other bag size, cement, coal, meal etc. is all 25kg. I thought it was an EU law to have no more than 25kg for manual lifting.
I know fertiliser is in half ton bags but not every farm has 2 tractors for spreading fertiliser.

pakalasa

blue5000 wrote: »

....Why do we still have fertiliser in 50kg bags? ....

I've wondered the same myself. My back is always in agony after lifting a tonne of those bags.

funkey_monkey

Good point re the 50kg bags.

Animal handling facilities still leave a lot to be desired - especially on outlying land.

One area which would be very easy for product development is for a neat method to administer injections to cattle without bending the needle etc. I've seen some ideas, but nothing out on the market fully.

Most injection solutions come in glass bottles. These are higly expensive yet I have not seen any shock proof covers for them which is a surprise given their working environment.

Tractor ergonomics are still lacking. Driving experience in all but the top machines is poor - cab suspension is crap on most machines.

What would be novel would be a way to enter the field, lower tyre pressure for minimal soil compaction (and possibly transfer of soil onto road as per the OP list) and then raise the tyre pressue when leaving the field for road travel. Zetors used to have onboard compressors back in the 80's. I don't think it would take much to advance this system.

H.A.M

Thanks for the replies.

There are some very good points raised! Fertilizer bags do seem to be a big problem which is worth looking into.

There is another major safety problem which unfortunately came about today due to the deaths of the Spence family in Down. It just goes to show that there are some major safety issues in this area which need to be tackled!

bob charles

funkey_monkey wrote: »

What would be novel would be a way to enter the field, lower tyre pressure for minimal soil compaction (and possibly transfer of soil onto road as per the OP list) and then raise the tyre pressue when leaving the field for road travel.

already available

H.A.M

bob charles wrote: »

already available

Im assuming this is only available in modern tractors though? Or if not would you be able to tell me what tractors this is available on?

Thanks

funkey_monkey

bob charles wrote: »

already available

Can it be retrofitted to existing tractors or an option on certain machines?

Dont be daft

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Can it be retrofitted to existing tractors or an option on certain machines?

Seen a huge Case in Cork with this system. It also had the system going back to the slurry tank and was being run off the tractors compressor so I'm guessing it was retrofitted to the tank.

Think it was an option on the MB Tracs back in the 1980's. Guess it was a system which was either to finicky or had no market because it never really took off.