自給粗飼料の生産履歴・計量法と放牧牛体型測定法の開発

The livestock industry is cyclical and dependent on agriculture for feed; however, many dairy farmers are dependent on imported feed. Recently, the price of imported feed has soared, resulting in an increase in the burden of dairy farms. Therefore, the importance of domestic feed has increased. The government has established a goal of achieving 100% self-support via coarse feed in 2020. To achieve this goal, practical use of paddy fields and grasslands is important. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a feed distribution system and traceability technique for animal feeding management, in order to improve the feed self-sufficiency rate. For the feed distribution technique, a database are developed allows broad information of cultivation history to promote the distribution standard of round bales of whole crop rice and whole crop wheat, which are widely used as commercial feed. For animal feeding management, a 3D digital camera was used to measure the growth of grazing cattle. Whole crop rice grown in paddy fields is preparation for round bales. Circulation use of round bales is increasing with the whole crop rice production expansion. Then, a production history managerial database system was established. The database was composed of field information, cultivation information, and field conditions at the time of harvest. The database system can be operated using a personal computer and a handy terminal (HT). During harvest, the HT was used to read the QR code on the information sheet for recording field conditions. Then the cultivation history data and QR code was printed a label using a mobile printer and printed label stuck on the round bales. With respect to the harvest of whole crop wheat, the time required for the operation of this system was 5% of the total time required for harvest only, and the measurement time was about 15 seconds. The information printed on the label, which was exposed to outdoor conditions, was readable for a year. Management of the round bales of whole crop rice and whole crop wheat was conducted using the production history managerial system. It is important to measure the mass of the round bales for the quality control of feed. Therefore, a mass measurement system with a self-propelled bale wrapper was developed for the round bale of whole crop rice. This system consisted of a hydraulic pressure sensor, an oil temperature sensor, and mass analysis equipment. The measuring process involved mounting a round bale on a turntable and measuring its mass by using the hydraulic pressure sensor by raising and lowering the turntable. This equipment can be used to measure the mass of round bales at the bale-wrapping operation. With the developed in-vehicle type measuring device, it became measurable in the accuracy of 5 kg about the mass of round bale of the range up to 400 kg. Then mass of a round bale on a printed label was attained by combining the measuring device and the production history management system, which was then stuck on the bale. Promotion of grazing is important in order to use grasslands practically. However, in prefectures other than Hokkaido, growing cattle graze in public pastures. Recently, the capacity of public pastures has decreased, and there are a lot of unused grasslands. Therefore, livestock management engineering was developed to promote the use of public pastures. In this study, the wither height of cattle in public pastures was estimated using 3D digital photographs with an image analysis technique. The 3D photographs of a cattle' s side were used for the estimation of wither height. The object distance for the cattle was 3 to 5 m, and the camera height was 160 cm. Time required for the estimation of wither height was 3.5 minutes per animal. The actual wither height of cattle was correlated with wither estimation for both Holstein cattle (r = 0.67) and Japanese Black beef cattle (r = 0.92). The estimated wither height and weight of cattle were also correlated for both Holstein cattle (r = 0.55) and Japanese Black beef cattle (r = 0.83). These results indicate that 3D image analysis is effective for evaluating and recording the growth of grazing cattle in public pastures.

食料・農業・農村基本計画では, 自給率向上のため2020年に粗飼料自給率100%を達成目標とし, そのための方策として耕種農家の水田を活用した飼料イネ等の国産粗飼料の生産利用拡大や, 公共牧場における放牧を推進している。そこで本研究では, 自給粗飼料の流通促進のために生産履歴管理システムとロールベール計量手法の開発と, 公共牧場の放牧牛の飼養管理技術として3Dデジタルカメラを用いた放牧牛体型測定法の開発を行った。国産粗飼料の流通利用促進のために, 2011年にトウモロコシの流通基準が, 2012年には飼料イネの流通基準が策定され, 生産履歴管理が推奨されている。そこで流通基準に準拠したロールベールの品質管理手法として, 栽培情報や収穫調製時の圃場の状態を記録管理し, 圃場でロールベールに貼り付ける製品ラベルに履歴情報を印刷する生産履歴管理システムを開発した。また流通基準で推奨項目としているロールベールの質量測定について, 収穫作業時に用いる自走式ベールラッパの油圧を利用して計量する手法の開発し, 400kg程度までのロールベールを±5kgの精度で計量できることを明らかにした。公共牧場の放牧飼養の高度化技術として, 3Dデジタルカメラによる画像解析から放牧牛の体型を推定する手法を検討した。3Dデジタルカメラを用いて, 放牧牛から3m程度はなれた場所から放牧牛の側面を撮影し, 3D画像を解析することにより, 体尺計による計測値と比べ, ±4cm程度で体高測定が可能であることを明らかにした。さらに撮影をより省力的に行うため, 放牧草地の水飲み場前に3Dデジタルカメラの自動撮影装置を設置し, 放牧牛の自動撮影を試みたところ, 無人で放牧牛の3D撮影と体型解析が可能であることを明らかにした。以上, 開発した飼料イネの生産履歴管理システムおよび自走式ベールラッパ用計量装置により, 飼料イネ等の国産粗飼料のロールベール流通利用の推進が期待される。また3Dデジタルカメラによる放牧牛の体型解析手法により, 放牧牛の飼養管理が高度化されることが期待される。