Agricultural engineers in the future

Agricultural engineers will be working on satellites circling the earth, monitoring movements of water and air masses and directing them in areas of the world where they are needed the most.

Thousands of agricultural engineers will be designing systems to grow crops and trees on saline soils and saline waters. Many will be working in the design of farming complexes in the deserts using nuclear plants to pump water miles away.

Thousands of agricultural engineers will continue to work in environmental pollution control and particularly in reuse of polluted air, soil and water.

Hundreds of agricultural engineers will be among the first thousands to be sent off from the Earth to establish food production complexes on Earth II.

In public research there will be increasing restoration and improvement of the natural environment. Agricultural engineers will carry on the research necessary to reduce pollution of the environment by wastes from agricultural production systems.

Sometime before the year 2050, the raising of poultry and livestock for slaughter will be considered barbaric. Meat, milk and egg analogs from plant proteins will give the foods now coming from the animal industries.

However before this happens innovations in mechanization and automation that will result in new systems will take place. Agricultural engineers will play a great part in these developments and their skills will determine how long these systems will successfully compete with the producers of the meat analogs.

Two other areas where agricultural engineers will be found in increasing numbers will be in the planting, harvesting and processing of trees for pulp and in the farming of the sea.

Thus ag-engineers in the next 50 years will play an important role in providing mankind with the most beautiful environment and the best diet.

AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING

Agricultural engineering means the application of engineering knowledge to agriculture. The agricultural engineer must understand that there are basic differences between agriculture and other industries. The biological factor is an important one in engineering applications, and the engineer must know well the basic principles and practices of agriculture.

Changes in cultural practices often need to make a machine adaptable or to increase its effectiveness. Processing equipment may also need changes to harvest crops mechanically, for the quality of yield of a crop may sometimes be reduced by the use of an improper machine.

Most field operations are seasonable in nature often with only a short period of time in which to do the job. Therefore field machinery in many cases has a low annual duty (i.e. very few hours of operation per year).

The field of farm machinery design gives greater opportunity to an engineer than any other field of engineering. Farm machines must work where the temperature may be above 100°F or where it is below freezing. They must be able to work in rain and in snow as well. Instead of resting on the floor of a factory, they must operate over any kind of land. They must also be designed to handle wide variations in crop and soil conditions.

Not only agricultural engineering in the field of mechanisation are in demand on the farm today. Electricians, i.e. agricultural engineers capable of designing, operating, controlling and adapting any form of electric energy to farm needs are wanted by modern agriculture.

As is known, electric power has become the main source of energy in agricultural production and its sphere of application is ever increasing. For example, it is a most reasonable source of mechanical power for some kinds of equipment such as electric motors which are very suited for farm jobs because of their automatic control, long life, compact construction, ability to run in cold or hot weather, etc.

All kinds of equipment for handling milk, such as milking machines, milk coolers, water heaters and others are also operated by electricity.

The great effects of various types of radiation on seeds, plants, insects and animals have been studied and are well known today. Those are but a few examples of electric power application on the farm which a modern ag-engineer must work with.