Gallery: The High Tech of Rural America: 9 Unusual Gadgets and Contraptions
01delaval-amr-circular-cow-milker
Hey, city slicker: Erase all preconceived notions about the technological competence of rural America. As you drive past all those rolling, pastoral fields during your summer road trips, you might be lulled into thinking our farmers and ranchers are stuck in the 1950s -- or maybe even homogeneously Amish. But think again: The people who work the land are using technologies that rival what’s coming out of the world’s most advanced R&D labs. Hell, they’re actually using technologies that come out of advanced R&D labs. From autonomous tractors to robot fruit pickers to cow milking machinery of amazing complexity (see image above, and our explanation below), rural America is on the cutting edge. So throw away your twee, urban biases of country folk. They’re using the technology of the future to feed us all -- and this holds true for the local produce, meat and poultry that you’re going to buy this weekend at the farmers market. DeLaval AMR Circular Cow Milker ------------------------------- If you ever took an elementary school field trip to a dairy farm, there’s a good chance your teachers had you milk a cow for a few seconds. Now imagine just how expensive our milk, cheese and Gogurt would be if we still milked cows with our hands. And while the current automated systems are quick, they can still use an update. An update with a spin. The [DeLaval AMR Circular Cow Milker](http://www.delaval.com/en/About-DeLaval/DeLaval-Newsroom/?nid=2718) pictured above puts dairy cows on a robot-powered merry-go-round of milk extraction. The system uses up to five robots to prepare the teats, milk the cows, then finally disinfect the cow’s money makers. After the cows milky bits have been cleaned, the cow is free to return to her herd to be replaced by another cow on the carousel. The system uses cameras, lasers and personal information about the cows to locate each cow’s teats. Because like snowflakes, no two cows’ teats are quite the same. *Photo: DeLaval*
02clicrweight-3d-camera
ClicRWeight Livestock Weighing System ------------------------------------- Part of a ranch animal’s market value is based on its weight. Unfortunately, getting a cow or hog into a tiny weighing pen is not only a difficult (and potentially dangerous) undertaking for humans, it’s also stressful on livestock. This stress can lead to illness, which leads to lost weight, which means less money in a rancher’s pocket. The [ClicRWeight](http://clicrweight.com/) precludes the need for those tiny, jail-like weighing pens that cause animals extra grief. Instead, this weighing system uses sophisticated imaging technology to determine an animal’s weight within an accuracy of a reported 99 percent. The animal is led into an open area, analyzed via two cameras to create a 3-D image, and then algorithms project the beast’s weight. It’s a non-invasive, ongoing process, and as our image above shows, ClicRWeight can track an animal’s weight over time. As a video for the technology professes, “It takes weights 24/7 -- and is ready when the hog is.” *Photo: ClicRWeight*
03insect-forecast
Insect Forecast - Track Deadly Insects -------------------------------------- An infestation of bugs can destroy a crop like, well, like a biblical swarm of locusts. But while you may think that insects are a mystery to all but the nation’s top entomologists, you’d be wrong. In today’s modern agriculture, tech-savvy farmers track hordes of destructive arthropods as easily as they check the weather. The [Insect Forecast](http://www.insectforecast.com/) site displays the movements of nefarious pests like the Western Bean Cutworm, the Corn Earworm and the Corn Rootworm “throughout major growing regions of the United States and southern Canada.” The map displays the risks posed by these pests, as well as their current locations. And, of course, the site also forecasts where the bugs will appear tomorrow, and contains information about how to manage these crop-destroying herbivores. Biblical plagues, consider yourself warned *Photo: InsectForecast.com*
04csiro-virtual-cattle-fencing
CSIRO Virtual Cattle Fencing ---------------------------- Fencing not only keeps kids off your lawn, it also keeps cattle from wandering off. (Cows are famously delicious, but not clever.) And while a physical fence is key to keeping bovines on the correct piece of land, a virtual fence gives ranchers more control over where their cattle actually roam. The [Virtual Fencing Project](http://www.csiro.au/science/Virtual-Fencing-Project), an ever-evolving work in progress, would give ranchers the opportunity to quickly adjust the grazing area of a herd. In the system, GPS-enabled collars work much like the collars used to create virtual boundaries for dogs. In this case, the cows receive a gentle shock if they stray too close to their virtual fencing. The scheme allows grass to regrow in heavily grazed areas, and reduces the labor costs of putting up temporary fences and herding the cattle from one area to another. Unfortunately, it also reduces the number of cowboys needed to run a ranch -- and nothing is sadder than a cowboy without cows to herd. *Photo: CSIRO*
05kinze-autonomous-planterharvestor
Kinze Autonomous Planter/Harvestor ---------------------------------- You would think driving a tractor all day would be fun. It’s actually not -- I speak from experience. You suffer dust, heat, and the sun in your eyes. You also always worry if you're planting seeds in the most efficient manner. So why not let technology take a spin? Using a system similar to Google’s Driverless Car project, [Kinze’s Autonomous Planter/Harvestor](http://www.kinze.com/) plants and harvests crops, and can potentially increase the yield of a field. First you feed it GPS information about your field, including potential trouble spots like trees and waterways, and then a specially fitted John Deere tractor goes about its merry way. The tractor is equipped with a computer that runs the mechanical portions of the vehicle, while a laser at the front of the vehicle scans the path to make sure the tractor doesn’t hit any wayward fence posts. It's technology that's long overdue. The suits at Sterling Cooper sure could have used some navigational assistance with their [own John Deere](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI2A8bQv2xA). *Photo: Kinze*
06poultry-kill-cone
Sarah Palin's Poultry Killing Cone ---------------------------------- OK, it's not super high-tech. But it's a contraption that drew unique attention to farm technology, so we have to cover it here. Made famous by Sarah Pailn’s [less-than-videogenic](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYxn2vlhtWo) attempt to pardon a Thanksgiving turkey in Alaska, the poultry kill cone is more than just an ghoulish backdrop for a politician. The [Poultry Killing Cone](http://www.cornerstone-farm.com/equipment/poultry-accessories-chicken/kill-cones/featherman-kill-cone-346) is actually one of the most humane ways to butcher fowl. When the birds are placed head-first into the cone, the upside-down position puts the turkeys into a trance-like state. A quick cut across the main artery, and it’s all over. It's far more humane than butchering the birds Ned Stark-style.
07nh2-hydrogen-tractor
NH2 Hydrogen Tractor -------------------- Tractors, as a rule, run on diesel fuel. A diesel engine delivers the torque needed to plow fields and haul heavy equipment over rough terrain. But the system hits a snag when it comes time to fill up. Farmers can either bring fuel to the tractor from the nearest filling station, or drive to the station and fill up the tractor beside semi trucks and VW Golfs from the '80s. New Holland thinks it has a better approach to the fuel issue: the [NH2 hydrogen-powered tractor](http://www.thecleanenergyleader.com/en/nh2_tm_hydrogen.html). According to New Holland, the fuel for the tractor would be produced by the farmer on his or her Energy Independent Farm. It's probably a bit pie-in-the-sky for the immediate future, but if a farm is producing its own food, it’s not a far leap forward to imagine it producing its own fuel *Photo: NH2*
08strawberry-picking-robot
Strawberry-Picking Robot ------------------------ Strawberries are delicious, but notoriously difficult to pick. Pickers have to be extra careful not to bruise the fruit, while also making sure they pick only the ripest berries. It’s labor intensive, and that translates into expensive strawberry shortcakes and pies. But now researchers in Japan think they’ve found a solution to the problem. You guessed it -- robots. The [NARO](http://www.naro.affrc.go.jp/english/index.html) [strawberry-picking robot](http://singularityhub.com/2010/12/04/japans-robot-picks-only-the-ripest-strawberries-video/) uses two cameras to detect the fruit within a 3-D space, and determines the ripeness. If the strawberry is deemed delicious, the robot cuts the stalk of the strawberry so the fruit isn’t bruised. While it takes the robot nine seconds to pick each berry, the researchers say that, overall, the robot can harvest strawberries in 60 percent of the time required by humans. Also, the robots are less likely to taste a few samples. *Photo: NARO*
09preg-tone
Preg-Tone Portable Ultrasound ----------------------------- Determining if a farm animal is pregnant requires, well ... it’s not something that’s comfortable for either the animal or the human doing the testing. At the end of the day, no one wants to look each other in the eye, and there’s also a lot of hand washing. The [Preg-Tone Portable Ultrasound](http://www.rencocorp.com/preg-tone.htm) takes the guesswork (and hand wringing) out of determining if an animal is pregnant by detecting amniotic fluid. When the device is placed against an animal’s skin, it emits a pulsing noise. Once it detects the amniotic fluid and the animal’s little bundle of joy, it emits a loud, continuous tone. According to the Renco Corporation, the device is appropriate for human use, but it can be used on a variety of animals including swine, cows, sheep and alpacas. *Photo: Renco*
