Carlos Amiama

• University of Santiago de Compostela

In the last five years yield maps have begun to be obtained with Self-Propelled Forage Harvesters (SPFH) by contractors in northwest Spain. Data recorded with SPFH needs to be converted into useful information that can be used to improve the efficiency of forage production. But for this purpose, it is necessary to use a procedure for cleaning and p...

The management of the distribution of concentrates is a process that requires a great organizational effort, given the large number of elements of the supply chain involved. In this work a case study is related, in which a spatial decision aid tool for the management of concentrate distribution logistics has been developed and implemented. The obje...

In this work we study a variant of the traveling salesman problem with additional constraints of clusters, time windows, and processing times at the cities. We apply this model to a real-world problem related to an agricultural cooperative that needs to optimise the routes of several harvesters, and where getting the exact solution has been proved...

When a farm that was using a conventional milking system introduces an automatic milking system (AMS) possible risk factors can affect milk quality. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of milking with automatic milking systems on milk quality variables over a long time-period post-installation. Bulk milk total bacterial count (BMT...

Over the last few years, the adoption of automatic milking systems (AMS) has experienced significant increase. However, hardly any studies have been conducted to investigate the distribution of mastitis pathogens in dairy herds with AMS. Because quick mastitis detection in AMS is very important, the primary objective of this study was to determine...

Harvesting corn silage requires balancing the capacities for harvest, transport, and storage operations to eliminate bottlenecks. The overall goal of this paper is to simulate the silage harvest system in order to provide the technicians with a decision support tool. This tool will be useful when performing both the strategic planning at the beginn...

In the present communication we analyze many engineering firms, with different dimension and location. We analyze few parameters of each company, deepening in the computer systems used as support for project management. In a basic stage were studied small and local engineering companies, with a single workplace (office), immature and with very limi...

In forage harvesting, self-propelled harvesters (SPFHs) are the component that most affects the cost of the process because of their high operating costs. Therefore efficient management of the SFPH is essential. There are basically two ways to improve the SPFH performance: to reduce the travelling distance between fields and to design an efficient...

The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of the dairy farms that installed an automatic milking system (AMS). A survey of 38 dairy farms with AMS, in Galicia (Spain), collected information on quantitative and qualitative variables. Following elimination of redundant variables, categorical principal component analysis identified 4...

In this research, a new spatial decision support system (SDSS) was developed, which solves the milk collection problem in two stages. First it applies an algorithm, employing heuristic techniques, generating solutions in a short period of time. In a second step, a graphic interface has been developed, which allows interaction and changes to be carr...

Milking data of 34 single automatic milking system (AMS) units on 29 Galician dairy farms were analyzed to determine the system capacity in each farm under actual working conditions. Number of cows, milk yield, milkings per cow per day, actual milking time, rejected milking time, cleaning time, and machine downtime were used to determine the number...

In this paper, the performance of a manual GPS guidance system to assist farming operations is evaluated. The distribution of granular fertilizer was simulated in order to discretize areas with excessive application of fertilizers and areas with fertilizer application rates below the intended rate. The path of travel followed by a tractor with the...

Planning and implementing an efficient machinery management system requires the availability of approximate data on the effective field capacity of the machinery used in farming operations. This article presents an analysis of disk harrowing and forage harvesting operations aimed at obtaining models that yield values that are as close as possible t...

Data for the effective field capacity of two self-propelled forage harvesters were collected from 163 fields located in Galicia, Northwest Spain, during the silage maize-harvesting season by using a telemetry system. The values obtained from the study were related to crop yield, field area, field longitudinal slope and cross slope, and to attribute...

In this study an online information and documentation system for the performance data of a forage harvester was developed and tested. A data acquisition system with positioning sensing and a communication module were integrated into the harvester. The data were transferred from the mobile equipment to the co-operative's control centre in two ways:...

In this work the basic characteristics of an e-learning project done at the University of Santiago de Compostela-Spain are presented, and a methodology for the evaluation of this type of teaching support technology is validated. The results obtained in an evaluation performed by the students on an application developed for virtual teaching, are sta...

Variable practical results have been observed for no-till (NT) drilling of grasslands in Galicia, northwest Spain. One of the possible explanations to this erratic behaviour could be the influence of different types of stubble on drill performance and grassland emergence. Because the rotation of silage corn (Zea mays L.) with grassland is the most...

In Galicia and in the rest of Spain, dairy barns are going through a transition to implement the latest technologies, improve labour efficiency, and increase size. Barns with capacity for more cows are required due to the new market demands. Such barns must be perfectly defined, so that the construction of new buildings may entail reduced investmen...

Increase in the size of dairy cattle farms in northwest Spain has caused an intensification of forage production and reinforced the need for two crops per year. However, in this geographical area, the establishment of the winter crop is not always possible because of the high rainfall and the poor workability of the land. The objective of this stud...

The present study analyses a decision tool for silage harvest operations to help determine the order of harvesting plots. This tool was particularized to the silage corn harvest, but it is easily adaptable to other forage crops (ryegrass, alfalfa …). The emphasis was on minimizing km travelled. Because is it not a simulation tool, special emphasis...

A survey was designed to identify motivations of 38 Galician farmers with 48 AMS box to invest in an automatic milking system and the impact of the implementation from the labour standpoint, qualities of life, structural, social and economic characteristics. The results of our research show that the average dairy farm has like worker a man 39.5 yea...