Day 72..
Machinery & Land Based Operations Theory
Combines and combine harvesting! That was our subject today. We were split into groups and with a picture of either the outside of a combine or an internal picture we had to label the parts that we already knew. These were displayed and then we talked through the various components and their function. Setting up a combine takes into consideration whether you are collecting straw for later baling or whether you are using the straw chopper in the machine and letting it disperse with the intention of ploughing it back into the ground as organic matter. Once combining you also need to keep an eye on your losses - taking a count of the amount of seed dropped on the ground after the pass and if the corn spans the width of the header then it is usually a header or reel setup issue and should be adjusted accordingly. Where the loss of grain is found under the swath (row of straw) it is coming out with the chaff and so the main grain pan should be investigated. Where the grain is mixed in to the swath can identify a threshing issue and the threshing cylinder investigate!
Livestock Husbandry Practical
This afternoon we had an introduction to sheep shearing - the process of removing the fleece off the animal. For the purposes of our demonstration and practice we were just concentrating on the daggy bottoms of the sheep today. Machine shears, aka handpieces, operate in a similar way to human hair clippers in that a power-driven toothed blade, known as a cutter, is driven back and forth over the surface of a comb (reciprocating) and the wool is cut from the animal. Once the hand piece was set up it was connected to the generator for power via an on/off hand pull - this is for safety when shearing and cuts power to the blades immediately. The shears are placed in to the sheep's fleece and with a downward motion used to cut away the fleece. It is easier to get in to the cleaner wool nearest the skin as the blades do not work well through dirty, clogged up wool - you just have to be careful when moving the shears around not to nick the sheep! We continued to dag some of the really dirty sheep bums as the weather was really muggy and there were flies about and we managed to see maggots just starting to appear on a couple of the sheep.
*** Bombshell dropped - college is trying to increase our hours next year - from three days to four!!!!! Outrageous considering I have committed to a three day course (and the fact that we do not even attend for three full days at present!!!) BTEC are to blame - they are insisting on more teaching hours apparently. Not sure what else they are going to teach us (if I can sacrifice my job, and afford the petrol to come for the extra day that is!)
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