The full economic contribution of the food and agriculture industries is estimated to be nearly $7 trillion. The industries account for nearly one-fifth of the country’s economic activity, directly contributing $2.7 trillion to the U.S. gross domestic product and supporting more than 40 million jobs^[1]. The key to the success of these industries is millions of farmworkers. The COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the importance of these workers and their contributions to our nation’s food security, and simultaneously highlighted challenges of labor instability, irregular migration, and the need for increased labor protections in order to increase the resiliency of our food system and supply chain.

To address these challenges, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in coordination with the other federal agencies will develop a pilot program utilizing up to $65 million in American Rescue Plan funding to provide support for agricultural employers in implementing robust health and safety standards to promote a safe, healthy work environment for both U.S. workers and workers hired from Northern Central American countries under the seasonal H-2A visa program.

The program will aim to improve the resiliency of our food and agricultural supply chain and advance several major Administration priorities:

• Driving U.S. economic recovery and safeguarding domestic food security by addressing current labor shortages in agriculture. Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, agricultural employers were struggling to secure a stable workforce. The pandemic has only exacerbated this problem, threatening our domestic capacity to produce a safe and robust food supply. This pilot program will help address this shortage by expanding the potential pool of workers.
• Reducing irregular migration through the expansion of legal pathways. The Biden-Harris Administration has taken numerous steps to address the elevated levels of irregular migration from Northern Central America. The H-2A visa program offers a lawful pathway for individuals from these countries to come to the United States to engage in temporary or seasonal agricultural work. An effective H-2A visa program is critical to the resiliency of the food and agricultural supply chain. This pilot program will aim to address challenges that both workers and employers face in utilizing the program.
• Improving working conditions for farmworkers. Strong working conditions are critical to the resiliency of the food and agricultural supply chain. Through this pilot program, USDA will support efforts to improve working conditions for both U.S. and H-2A workers and ensure that H-2A workers are not subjected to unfair recruitment practices.

USDA will provide opportunities for stakeholder engagement as the program is developed. USDA will also partner with the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) through a technical assistance cooperative agreement to inform USDA of the challenges faced by agricultural workers and to inform development of the pilot program. UFW will work with relevant stakeholders, including farmers, farmworkers, farmworker advocates, and unions, to ensure that the agency benefits from a wide range of views. After the consultation and program development phase, USDA intends to launch a competitive pilot program ahead of the growing season in early 2023.

Source: USDA

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The floor chains in muck spreaders convey the material towards the rotors and require a constant and even feed to ensure all the load is spread accurately. All leading manufactures now use heavy-duty, mining conveyor chain systems which are far superior to the early lightweight, flat link agricultural chain systems of the past.

Traditionally the market saw larger “trailer type” 2m wide muck spreaders designed using single floor chain systems, but when a large amount of material was tipped into them it did not support the floor well and it would bow and eventually stove in, impinging the conveyor system. The twin floor chain system naturally gives a more robust floor slat, but permits support to the center of the spreader floor.

Ktwo muck spreaders have a flared body throughout which gives an increased volume capacity but also allows a stronger floor design. By starting to taper from the floor, the innovative design acts as a funnel to help move materials down to the chains increasing volume and allowing for easier emptying with less bridging. Even with the central gap between the two chain systems, the nature of the manure itself ensures complete emptying of the spreader.

Ashley Knibb, Ktwo Senior Design Engineer explains:

“A single chain is a simple system that allows for easier slat bending and requires a bigger and more clumsy chain to achieve the required pulling capacity. And suffers from inherently more chain wear on the gearbox drive side”,

As observed over the years by Stewart Freeman Ktwo Service and Parts Manager.

“Spreading the load” across a twin system with four chains and two runs of slats means it is not imposing such a big load onto the slats, a smaller more compact chain can be used and the floor is supported better.

With the exception of the Ktwo Bio which has more slats to give a very accurate rotor feed, Ktwo models have staggered chains to further help feed the rotors and ensure an even output and accurate coverage of the looser, lighter product, which is especially noticeable when spreading high-value materials such as lime with the use of the slurry door to meter the load.

Ktwo muck spreaders include a sprocketed front roller with integral cleaning scrapers. This gives positive engagement with the chain ensuring the chains remain timed and aligned, with a consistent flow of material and preventing the chain derailing should a foreign object get into the drive roller, thus every slat bending if one should fail.

Another consideration is the difference between the use of a bearing or composite bush. Ktwo has always fitted high-quality ball flange bearings which are self-aligning allowing accurate individual chain tension and high-pressure bearings which are much more resilient to wear out. The composite bush produces resistance with its thin wall and its friction contact when under heavy load, unlike the ball flange bearing which eliminates this.

Robbie Polson, Ktwo Managing Director, says

“We have had great feedback from customers moving from a single slat spreader to our twin floor chain spreaders. Not only does it help spread the load better it allows for easy maintenance.’’

“A single slat system has a no-tool change design. These are a loose fit and then wear and become covered in the product and corrode. This system also eventually corrodes solid. We often have customers comment on our four chain design, on its ease to maintain because they can get their tools in and around it and it is simple to remove bolts and slats no matter how worn and embedded they get.’’

Ktwo continues to stay ahead of the curve with its innovative and high-quality machines that are designed to perform and built to last. The extensive Ktwo muck spreader range includes vertical and horizontal beaters all designed to give maximum output with consistent and accurate spreading.

The post Ktwo creates muck spreader with floor chains appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.