Field Notes

<--2020-06-01 00:00:00 | 2020-07-01 13:45:00-->
Other sites visited today: West Pond | East End | Bouldin Corn
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Bouldin Alfalfa: 2020-06-09 11:00:00 (DOY 161)
Author: Joe Verfaillie
Others: Daphne

Summary: Active baling going on, clipped around tower and Arables, added collar to original FD chamber, improved Arable mounts, bale dimensions

Bouldin Alfalfa
2020-06-09

I arrived at 11:00 and Daphne came later from helping Ariane at West Pond. It was clear sunny and hot with a light variable breeze. Our field has been mowed and raked. There was a tractor on the field to the east making bales. I stopped and measured one of the bales. It was 1.2m x 0.9m x 2.5m. This matches one of the standard bale sizes that usually weighs 420kg.

On our field it looks like the placement of the Arables is okay. There was more alfalfa left standing around the posts than I would like but it was a long narrow strip. And the raking left the Arables in the middle of a clear area with only a slight wobble in the lines of raked up cutting ready for baling. I cut all the standing alfalfa around both posts and put the cuttings in the raked lines. Later I removed the original cross bars and added longer (3ft) cross bars to separate the Marks more because they seem to be interfering with each otherâ€™s telecommunications. After texting Loreli, I reset C003751 because it was not reporting â€“ it connected correctly before we left.

At the tower we cut all the standing alfalfa under and around the scaffolding and added it to the raked piles. Daphne did the data collection while I cut alfalfa and worked on the Arables.
The 7500 read: 396ppm CO2, 474mmol/m3 H2O, 28.9C, 102.0kPa, 99.7SS â€“ 102 after cleaning
The 7700 read: 2.07ppm CH4, 32RSSI â€“ 76 after cleaning
The wash reservoir which was mostly full was topped up.

The FD chamber data was downloaded and cleared. I added a collar to the original chamber. The ground was really hard so Iâ€™m not sure the collar will make a difference. Next time the soil is damp we should try to hammer the collar in more.

I did spectral measurements. I noticed that the diffuser on the fiber optic cable looks broken. I donâ€™t know how long it has been that way but we have not noticed anything wrong in the data. Still, Iâ€™ll order a new one and there is another on the old system. My measurements alternated between bare patches and patches of raked cuttings.

Daphne did veg height but there is barely any standing veg.

We left at 12:30

Next Mowing: 2020-07-06

Veg Height (cm): Tape measure from ground to top of plant - Mowed five days ago, baling today
12, 5, 7, 13, 7, 10, 5, 8, 6, 5, avg = 7.8, stdev = 2.94

4 photos found

20200609BA_MarkUnmowedSide.jpg ( 2020-06-09 00:00:00 ) Full size: 1920x1440
Side view of unmowed area around Arable Marks