Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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HARVESTNG TECHNIQUE FOR SEPARATE COLLECTION AND PROCESSING OF
LEAFY/FLOWER-BUDDED CROP CANOPY AND REMNANT LOWER STALKS
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to crop harvesting techniques,
and more particularly to harvesting techniques in which the leafy/flower-
budded tops of
the plants are cut first, before subsequently cutting down a remnant lower
stalk of plant.
BACKGROUND
Applicant has previously proposed unique processes for post-harvest
processing of hemp plants in order to derive various vendible products from
the
constituent components of the plants, including the bast fiber, shive, leaves
and flower
buds. The details of these processes are described in Applicants prior U.S.
Patents
9,707,567; 9,855,562; 10,052,636 and related U.S. Patent Application
16/018,604, all
of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Among these
processes
are those aimed at producing granular products containing both bast fiber and
shive
from the stalk of the hemp plant, and processes aimed at extracting
cannabinoid (CBD)
from the leaves and flower buds thereof. In the '604 application, Applicant's
post-
harvest processing of the plant includes separation of the leaves and flower
buds from
the stalk of whole plants that were harvested from the field in a fully intact
form, and
baled and transported to the processing facility in such state. Through such
separation,
the CBD rich leaves and flower buds can be sold or further processed
independently of
the bast fiber and shive of the stalks, which contain significantly lesser
concentrations
of CBD oil and are useful in the manufacture of various other vendible
products.
However, there remains room for improved and alternative techniques for
isolating the leaves and flower buds of the hemp plant from the other
constituent
components thereof.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of
harvesting crop plants from a field, said method comprising:
over a first area of said field,
(a) performing a first cutting operation comprising:
(i) at a first cutting height elevated above ground level, cutting plant
tops from plants of said first area while leaving remnant lower stalks of the
plants of
said first area standing in the field; and
(b) performing a second cutting operation comprising:
(i) cutting said remnant lower stalks of the plants of said first area
at a lower second cutting height nearer to ground level, thereby separating
cuttings of
said remnant lower stalks from underlying roots of the plants; and
(ii) laying said cuttings into a stalk windrow that is separate and
isolated from the plant tops cut in the first cutting operation.
The first cutting operation may comprise laying said plant tops in a plant
top windrow, from which the stalk windrow laid in the second cutting operation
is
separate and isolated.
In such dual-windrow embodiments in which both the plant tops and
remnant stalk cuttings are windrowed, step (a)(ii) preferably comprises laying
the plant
2( top windrow outside the first area of the field.
Dual-windrow embodiments may include, after completion of steps (a)
and (b) over the first area of the field, performing a repetition of steps (a)
and (b) over
a second area of the field, and in step (a)(ii) of said repetition, laying the
plant top
windrow from the second area of the field atop the first area of the field.
The method may include performing said first and second cutting
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operations with respective first and second machines respectively operating at
said first
and second cutting heights, whereby the first cutting operation is performed
in a first
pass over said first area by the first machine, and the second cutting
operation is
performed in a second pass over said first area by the second machine.
In dual-windrow embodiments, the method may include:
performing steps (a)(i) and (b)(i) with respective first and second
cutterbars that respectively reside at said first and second cutting heights,
and that have
respective first and second cutting widths; and
laying the plant top and stalk windrows in steps (a)(ii) and (b)(ii) with
respective first and second windrow outlets, of which the first windrow outlet
is
positioned at a more outboard location relative to the first cutting width
than the second
windrow outlet is positioned relative to the second cutting width.
Preferably the first windrow outlet is situated adjacent an end of the first
cutting width.
Preferably the second windrow outlet is situated intermediately between
opposing ends of the second cutting width.
In dual-windrow embodiments, step (a)(ii) preferably comprises laying the
plant top windrow outside the first area of the field.
As an alternative to dual-windrow embodiments, the first cutting operation
2C may be performed with a cutter bar whose travel over the first area is
accompanied by
= a collection receptacle into which the plant tops severed by the first
cutter bar are
dispensed as said cutter bar travels over the first area.
In said alternative embodiment, there is preferably a conveyor that spans
between the cutter bar and the collection receptacle and is operable to convey
the
severed plant tops from the cutterbar to the collection receptacle.
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In said alternative embodiment, the collection receptacle is preferably
towed alongside the first area.
In said alternative embodiment, the collection receptacle and the
cutterbar may be components of separately conveyed implements driven in
concert
with one another along the first area of the field.
Step (b)(ii) preferably comprises laying the stalk windrow atop the first
area of the field.
Preferably the method includes collecting the plant tops and the stalk
windrow from the field separately of one another.
The method may include leaving the plant tops and the stalk windrow in
the field for different respective lengths of time before collection.
All cutting operations may be performed by machinery other than a
combine harvester.
The first and second cutting operations may lack any threshing of the crop
between the cutting and windrowing steps.
Preferably the tops of said plants comprise leaves and/or flower buds,
and the remnant lower stalks and the cuttings thereof are substantially free
of leaves
and flower buds.
The crop preferably comprises hemp plants, of which the tops of the
plants comprise leaves and/or flower buds, and the remnant lower stalks and
the
' cuttings thereof are substantially free of leaves and flower buds.
The method may include transporting the plant tops and the cuttings to
respective first and second destinations that are located remotely of the
field and from
which the plant tops and the cuttings are queued for intake to different first
and second
processing sequences respectively configured to derive different vendible
products
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from the plant tops and the cuttings.
the first and second destinations may reside at separate first and second
processing facilities, of which the first processing facility is equipped to
at least partially
complete the first processing sequence on the plant tops, and the second
processing
facility is equipped to at least partially complete the second processing
sequence on
the cuttings.
When the crop comprises hemp plants, preferably the first processing
sequence is operable to extract CBD oil from leaves and/or flower buds of the
plant
tops.
When the crop comprises hemp plants, the remnant lower stalks and the
cuttings therefrom comprise bast fiber and shive and are substantially free of
leaves
and flower buds, and the second processing sequence is preferably operable to
derive
one or more vendible products from the bast fiber and/or shive of the
cuttings.
The second processing sequence may lack a preliminary leaf and flower
bud separation stage in view of the absence of leaves and flower buds in the
cuttings
received by said processing sequence.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic overhead view of a field of whole hemp plants
ready for harvest, and a first crop cutting machine prepared make a first pass
across
the field at a first area thereof during a first embodiment harvesting
technique of the
present invention.
Figure 2 schematically shows the first crop cutting machine making a first
pass over the first area of the field, during which the leafy/flower-budded
plant tops are
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cut therefrom and laid in a first windrow alongside the first area.
Figure 3 schematically shows the field once the first crop cutting machine
has completed the first pass over the first area of the field.
Figure 4 is another schematic overhead view of the field, but with a
second crop-cutting machine prepared to make a second pass over the first area
of the
field.
Figure 5 schematically shows the second crop cutting machine making a
second pass over the first area of the field, during which remnant lower
stalks of the
plants previously left standing by the first crop-cutting cutting machine are
cut from the
field and laid in separate second windrow.
Figure 6 schematically shows the field once the second crop cutting
machine has completed the second pass over the first area of the field.
Figure 7 is another schematic overhead view of the field, but with the first
crop cutting machine prepared to make a first pass over a second area of the
field.
Figure 8 schematically shows the first crop cutting machine making a first
pass over the second area of the field, during which the leafy/flower-budded
plant tops
are cut therefrom and laid in new windrow atop the previously cut first area.
Figure 9 is another schematic overhead view of the field, but with the
second crop cutting machine prepared to make a second pass over the second
area of
.. the field.
Figure 10 schematically shows the second crop cutting machine making
a second pass over the second area of the field, during which remnant stalks
of the
plants left standing in the second area by the first crop-cutting cutting
machine are cut
from the field and laid in another new windrow.
Figure 11 schematically shows the field once the second crop cutting
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machine has completed the second pass over the second area of the field.
Figure 12 schematically shows the field once all areas thereof have been
subject to passes by the first and second crop cutting machines.
Figure 13 schematically shows the field of Figure 12 during bailing and
collection of separate windrows containing the leafy/flower-budded tops of the
hemp
plates and the remnant stalk cuttings thereof.
Figure 14 schematically illustrates a first pass over the first area of the
field during a second embodiment harvesting technique of the present
invention, in
which the leafy/flower-budded plant tops are collected as they are cut, rather
than being
laid in a windrow.
Figure 15 schematically illustrates a first pass over the second area of the
field during the second embodiment harvesting technique.
Figure 16 schematically shows the field of Figure 15 during bailing of
windrowed remnant stalk cuttings from the field once all areas thereof have
been fully
cleared.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Figure 1 schematically illustrates a field containing a crop of hemp plants
ready to harvest, schematically represented by the letter "W" to reflect a
"whole" or
intact state of each plant in the field prior to the performance of any of the
cutting or
harvesting steps described herein further below. In this initial whole state
of the plant,
a stalk of the plant emerges upwardly from the soil and underlying root of the
plant, and
carries leaves and/or flower buds at only an upper portion of the stalk.
Meanwhile, a
lower portion of the stalk is fully or substantially bare of any such leaves
and/or flower
buds. Accordingly, the leaves and/or flower buds reside only at spaced
elevations
above ground level. This leafy/flower-budded upper portion of each plant is
referred to
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herein more simply as the "top" of the plant in the interest of brevity, and
the collective
tops of the plants are referred to herein as the canopy of the crop. The bare
lower
portion of each plant stalk however, consisting only or substantially of the
stalk, is
referred to herein more simply as the "remnant lower stalk" of the plant.
Below is
described a novel harvesting technique by which the tops of the plants and the
remnant
lower stalks thereof can be collected separately from one another, for example
in the
interest of reducing post-harvest processing equipment requirements at off
site
processing facilities situated remotely of the crop field.
Figure 1 illustrates a first crop cutting machine Mci which for example may
take the form of a self-propelled swather (also known as a windrower), which
is
composed of a front-cabin rear-engine tractor 10 having driven front wheels
12, rear
caster wheels 14, and a header 16 (also known as a table or platform) that is
carried at
a front end of the tractor 10 and spans thereacross in a lateral direction
perpendicularly
transverse to a forward working direction F in which the tractor is conveyed
by rotation
of its driven wheels 12. The header 16 features a cutterbar 18 that is located
at a
leading front edge thereof, and spans an entirety or substantial majority of
the header
width, as measured in the lateral direction from one end of the header to the
other.
Trailing the cutterbar in the forward working direction F is a lateral
conveyor 20 for
receiving cut crop material from the cutterbar 18 and conveying this material
laterally to
a windrow outlet 22 situated at one end of the header 16 in outboard relation
from the
tractor 10. The length of the cutterbar 18 across the leading front edge of
the header
16 defines the cutting width of the first crop cutting machine Mci, which for
clarity is
referred to herein as the "first cutting width" to distinguished it from the
cutting width of
the second crop cutting machine referenced below.
Figure 1 shows the first crop cutting machine Mci in an aligned working
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relation to a first area Ai of the field. In this aligned working relation,
the cutting width
of the first crop cutting machine Mci spans fully across a width of the first
area Ai, as
measured perpendicularly of the forward working direction F in which the first
crop
cutting machine Mci will traverse the first area Ai of the field. In the
illustrated example,
this first area Ai resides adjacent a perimeter boundary of the larger overall
field area
occupied by the targeted harvest-ready hemp plants. This first area Ai thus
neighbours
an adjacent margin space S of the field that is substantially unoccupied by
the targeted
hemp plants. In the aligned working position, a majority width of the header
of the first
crop cutting machine Mci spans widthwise across the first area Ai of the
field, while a
small remainder of the header 16 of the first crop cutting machine Mci
overhangs the
margin space S by at least the width of the windrow outlet 22. As a result,
the entirety
of the windrow outlet 22 overlies the margin space S and not the first area Ai
of targeted
crop plants. The cutterbar height of the first crop cutting machine Mci is set
at a suitable
elevation above ground level to cut only the tops of the whole hemp plants W,
for
example to cut an uppermost 24-inches or less of the plants.
With reference to Figure 2, the first crop cutting machine Mci is driven in
a first pass over the first area Ai, during which the aligned working relation
is maintained
so that the cutterbar acts on the targeted crop of the first area, while the
windrow outlet
22 instead passes over the margin space S of the field. This way, the severed
tops of
the hemp plants, schematically represented by the letter "T", are laid in a
first windrow
Wi atop the unoccupied margin space S of the field. Since only the tops T of
the whole
hemp plants W are being cut in this first pass over the first area Ai of the
field, the first
cutting operation performed by the suitably elevated cuttebar of the first
crop cutting
machine Mci leaves the remnant lower stalks of the cut plants behind in the
first area
Al of the field. Figure 3 shows the resulting status of the field after the
first pass by the
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first crop cutting machine Mci, where the first area Ai is now occupied only
by remnant
lower stalks, schematically represented by the letter "R", while all the
severed plant tops
T from the first area At have been cleanly laid in a first windrow Wi atop the
previously
unoccupied margin space S of the field.
Turning to Figure 4, a second crop cutting machine MC2 is shown for the
purpose of performing a second cutting operation on the remnant lower stalks R
of the
first area Al in a second pass thereover. Like the first crop cutting machine
Mci, the
second crop cutting machine MC2 may be a self-propelled swather, and is
likewise
equipped with a cutterbar 18' of sufficient length to span fully across the
first field area
1(1 Ai in
the width direction thereof. The second crop cutting machine MC2 differs from
the
first however, in that its cutterbar is set to a lower cutting height of
closer elevation to
the ground, and its windrow outlet 22' is situated more centrally of the
second machine's
header than the outboard windrow outlet 22 of the first crop cutting machine
Mci. This
central windrow outlet 22' of the second machine MC2 thus resides between two
directionally opposite halves 20a, 20b of the lateral conveyor 20' of the
second crop
cutting machine MC2. This way, crop material severed from the field by the
cutterbar of
the second crop cutting machine MC2 is diverged inwardly toward the center of
the
header 16' by the two oppositely directed conveyor halves 20a, 20b, where this
cut crop
material is laid in a central windrow through the central windrow outlet 22'.
As a result,
the aligned working position of the second crop cutting machine MC2 is one in
which its
cutterbar spans the full width of the currently targeted field area Ai, while
its windrow
outlet 22' also resides over this same field area Ai, and not an adjacent area
or space
outside the currently targeted area.
Figure 5 illustrates passage of the second crop cutting machine MC2 over
the first area Ai, where the lower cutterbar of the second crop cutting
machine cuts the
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remnant lower stalks R left behind in the first pass by the first crop cutting
machine.
More specifically, the second crop cutting machine MC2 cuts these remnant
stalks R in
close relation to the ground so as to remove the entirety or substantial
majority of the
remnant stalks from the field. These full or substantial cuttings of the
remnant stalks,
represented by the letter "C" in the figures, are conveyed inwardly to the
central windrow
outlet 22' of the second crop cutting machine MC2, thus laying these cuttings
C down
into a second windrow W2 positioned centrally of the first area Ai,. This
second windrow
W2 of remnant stalk cuttings C is thus located entirely separate of the first
windrow Wi
of severed plant tops T that were previously laid down in the margin space S
of the field
during the first pass performed by the first crop cutting machine Mci . The
white spaces
on either side of the second windrow W2 in Figured 5 sand 6 thus represent
empty
bands Bi, B2 of the first area Ai that are unoccupied by the severed plant
tops T and
remnant stalk cuttings C from the first and second passes of the first area
Ai.
Figure 6 shows the field after completion of the second pass of the first
area Ai, where all of the originally whole hemp plants W of this first area Ai
have been
cut down in a two-stage cutting process, and the resulting severed tops T and
remnant
stalk cuttings C have been laid atop the ground in two separate and distinct
windrows
W1 , W2 that enable separate subsequent collection of the leafy/flower-budded
tops T "
from the bare remnant stalk cuttings C.
2C
Figures 7 through 11 illustrate repetition of the same two-stage cutting
process on an adjacent second area A2 of the field that immediately neighbours
the first
area Ai on the side thereof opposite the margin space S of the field. Figure 7
shows
positioning of the first crop cutting machine Mci into aligned working
relation with the
second area A2 so that the cutterbar of the machine spans the full width of
the second
area A2 However, instead of overhanging the margin space S of the field, the
header
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16 of the first crop cutting machine overhangs the previously cleared first
area Al of the
field. This way, with reference to Figure 8, the outboard windrow outlet 22 of
the first
crop cutting machine Mci overlies the previously cleared first area Ai so that
as the first
machine Mci makes a first pass over the second area A2, the severed plant tops
T from
this second area A2 are laid in a third windrow W3 atop the previously cleared
first area
Ai. More specifically, the severed plant tops T from the second area A2 are
windrowed
at a boundary region of the first area Ai that is situated closely adjacent
the second
area A2. This leaves a notable gap G between this newly formed third windrow
W3 and
the previously laid second windrow W2 containing the remnant stalk cuttings C
from the
first area Ai. In other words, the one of the previously unoccupied bands B2
of the fully
cleared first area Ai nearest to the second area A2 now being cleared is used
to
accommodate the windrowing of the severed tops T from the second area Az,
specifically at a side of this band B2 furthest from the previously laid
windrow W2 of the
first area's remnant stock cuttings.
The relative sizing of the windrow openings of the crop cutting machines
to the cut width of each field area is selected to accommodate such spacing
apart of
the different windrows in non-overlapping relation to one another. For
example, in one
embodiment the area cut width of each field area is 25-feet, and the windrow
spread
width dictated by the windrow opening of each machine is 5-feet. The first
machine's
header width thus corresponds to the sum of the area cut width and the windrow
spread
width so that the first machine's windrow can be laid outside the area
currently being
cut. This way, the windrow of severed plant tops T is laid atop an unoccupied
margin
space or previously cut field area rather than atop of the remnant stalks R
being left
behind in the current cutting operation. So, the particular example given
above, the
area cut width is 25-feet, and the first machine has a header width of 30-feet
and
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windrow spread width of 5-feet, while the second machine has a header width of
25-
feet and windrow spread width of 5-feet. This way, half the area cut width
(12.5 feet)
of any field area is enough to accommodate half of the central windrow of
remnant stalk
cuttings C (2.5 feet) from that area, plus the full width of the outboard
windrow of
severed tops T from the next area (5 feet), while still leaving a notable gap
space G (5
feet) between these two windrows.
The cutterbar length (i.e. cutting width) of the second crop cutting machine
MC2 spans the full header width of that machine, while the cutterbar length
(i.e. cutting
width) of the first crop cutting machine Mci can either span the full header
width of that
machine, or only 25-feet of its 30-feet, as cutting is not required directly
in front of the
windrow outlet 22 of the first machine since this windrow outlet overlies an
unoccupied
margin space or previously cut area of the field during any given pass of the
first crop
cutting machine W.I. In non-numerical terms, the cutting width of the first
crop cutting
machine Mci is: (a) at least as great as the cutting width of the second
machine MC2;
and (b) at least as great as the difference between the overall header width
of the first
machine Mci and the windrow spread width of the first machine Mci. Expressed
in
alternative terms, the first machine Mci has a header width at least as great
as the sum
of the second cutting machine's cutting width and the first cutting machine's
windrow
spread width.
Referring to Figures 9 and 10, the second cutting machine Mc2 makes a
second pass over the second area A2 of the field, thus cutting down the
remnant lower
stalks R of the plants and laying them in a fourth windrow W4 running
centrally of the
second area A2. Figure 11 shows the state of the field once the second area A2
has
been fully cleared by respective passes of the two cutting machines. This two-
pass
process is repeated for the third area A3 and any subsequent areas A4 of the
field until
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the entire field is cleared.
So, at each of the second and subsequent areas, a first pass made by
the first cutting machine Mci cuts the tops T of the plants and lays them in a
first windrow
atop the precedingly cleared area, and a second pass made by the second
machine
MC2 cuts the remnant lower stalks R and lays these cuttings in a second
windrow atop
the area currently being cut. Figure 12 shows four fully cleared areas Ai, A2,
A3, A4,
where the first through third areas Al-A3 are each occupied by one central
windrow of
remnant stalk cuttings C from that area, plus one boundary-adjacent outer
windrow of
plant tops T from the subsequently cut neighbouring area. The first and last
areas Ai
and A4 are each occupied only by a central windrow of remnant stalk cuttings
C, but the
first area Ai is also neighboured by a windrow Wi of plant tops T laid in the
margin
space S of the field. So for field cleared in N number of areas, areas Al-AN-I
are each
occupied by one central windrow of remnant stalk cuttings C from that area,
plus one
boundary-adjacent outer windrow of plant tops T from the subsequently cut
lE neighbouring area A2-AN, while the first and last areas Ai and AN are
each occupied by
only a central windrow of remnant stalk cuttings C.
While the illustrated embodiment employs self-propelled swathers for the
crop cutting machinery, any other piece of machinery suitably equipped to both
cut and
windrow the crop may be used. Examples include a tractor carried swather
attachment,
mower, mower-conditioner, etc. If the hemp processing facility for which the
plant tops
T are destined is already equipped with suitable equipment for separating the
leaves
and flower buds from the upper stalks of the plant tops, then use of swather,
mower or
mower-conditioner machines lacking any threshing components is preferable over
use
of a combine harvester with threshing means, though a combine harvester with
an
internal thresher may nonetheless still be used. While the illustrated
embodiment
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employs separate cutting machines for the two cutting operations, other
embodiments
may employ a novel cutting machine that has an elevated first header whose
cutterbar
is situated in elevated and leading relation to the cutterbar of a lower
second header,
and that has an outboard windrow outlet on the elevated first header and a
more central
windrow outlet on the lower second header.
Once all the plant tops and remnant stalk cuttings have been cut and
windrowed, as shown in Figure 12, one or both of the windrow types may be
promptly
collected from the field with no or minimal delay, or one or both of the
windrow types
may optionally be left in the field to dry out for a period time before
collection or baling.
Figure 13 illustrates optional pickup of one or both windrow types by one
or more baling machines Mei, MB2. For example, a first baling machine MB1 may
pick
up the cut plant tops T from the plant top windrows and drop bales Bi of plant
tops in
the field, while a second baling machine MB2 picks up the remnant stalk
cuttings C and
drops bales 62 of remnant stock cuttings in the field. While use of separate
baling
machines for baling the plant tops and the remnant stalk cuttings allows
increased
efficiency by simultaneously running multiple machines in the field,
collection of both
materials by the same machine in separate baling/collecting operations may
alternatively be employed.
In addition to baling of the remnant stalk cuttings, and in addition or
alternative to baling at least some of the plant tops, a silage harvester H
(also known
as a forage harvester) and accompanying collection wagon towed by the
harvester H
or an accompanying tractor or other vehicle V, may be used as a non-baling
windrow-
collecting machine Mwc for collecting the plant tops T from at least some of
the plant
top windrows. Alternatively, a self-loading forage/silage wagon may be used as
the
non-baling windrow-collecting machine Mwc, thus avoiding the need for both a
wagon
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and separate harvester H.
In one scenario, the plant tops and remnant stalk cuttings are collected
by one or more windrow-collecting machines Mwc with zero or minimal delay, for
example within 24-hours or less of the windrows being laid. In such instance,
a
windrow-collecting machine may trail shortly behind the second crop cutting
machine
MC2 in its passes across the field. The harvester-accompanying wagon, or self-
loading
wagon, may be used to transport the collected remnant stalk cuttings to a
remote
processing facility, or the cuttings may first be transferred from the wagon
to one or
more other suitable transport containers for shipment to the remote facility.
In another scenario, the windrows of plant tops are left in the field for an
extended length of time, for example 7 to 9 days, to notably dry the plant
tops out to a
moisture content of 18% or lower, at which time the windrowed plant tops are
then baled
in round or square bales. The bales can stored locally at the field location
or at an
intermediate location before delivery to a remote hemp processing facility,
where CBD
oil and other potentially valuable oils, chemicals or other constituent
materials can be
extracted or separated for use as, or in, various vendible products.
In another scenario, the windrows of plant tops are left in the field over a
shorter period, for example two days or less, to dry out to a moisture content
of 50-60%,
and then baled in round or square bales, which may be bagged or wrapped, for
example
in plastic stretch film, to store the bales in a substantially air tight
manner limiting
exposure of the bales to oxygen. Again, the bales can stored locally at the
field location,
or at an intermediary location, before delivery to a remote hemp processing
facility,
where CBD oil and other potentially valuable oils, chemicals or other
constituent
materials can be extracted or separated for use as or in various vendible
products.
In any of the forgoing scenarios, the windrows of remnant stalk cuttings
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C may be left in the field for a notable amount of time, for example 10 to 14
days, to dry
out to a moisture content of 15% or less before baling.
The remote hemp processing facility suitably equipped to perform a first
processing sequence on the plant tops to extract CBD or other valuable
constituent
materials therefrom may be an all-in-one facility that is also be suitably
equipped to
perform a second processing sequence on the remnant stalk cuttings to make use
of
the bast fiber and/or shive of the plant stalk, in which case both the plant
tops and the
remnant stalk cuttings can be delivered to the same hemp processing facility.
The plant
tops and remnant stalk cuttings may be delivered together in a singular
shipment,
-- though in an unmixed state (e.g. in their separate bales, or in separate
containers if
unbaled), and then separated again at the processing facility, where the baled
or
unbaled plant tops are queued for intake to the first processing sequence,
while the
remnant stalk cuttings are queued for intake to the second processing
sequence.
Alternatively, the plant tops and remnant stalk cuttings may be delivered
separately, for
-- example to different receiving docks of the same facility, from which they
are queued
for intake into the respective processing sequences.
In other instances, the plant tops and the remnant stalk cuttings may be
delivered to two separate facilities, including a first processing facility
suitably equipped
to perform the first processing sequence on the plant tops, and a separate
second
processing facility suitably equipped to perform the second processing
sequence on
the remnant stalk cuttings. In either instance, the second processing sequence
can be
simplified by omitting or reducing labour or mechanized means for separating
leaves
and/or flower buds from the stalks, since the received remnant stalk cuttings
are
substantially or entirely bare as a result of the inventive harvesting
techniques
employed in the field.
CA 3018055 2018-09-20
18
Figures 14 through 16 illustrate a second embodiment, which differs from
the above described embodiment of Figures 1 through 15 in that instead of the
first crop
cutting machine Mci having a windrow outlet at the outboard end of its cutter
bar, it
instead has an upwardly inclined conveyor 24 that is fed by the lateral
conveyor 20 and
lifts the cut plant tops T upwardly to the open top end of a travelling
collection receptacle
26 being conveyed alongside the first area Ai of the field in the neighbouring
margin
space S thereof. In this embodiment, the plant tops are thus instantaneously
collected
during the cutting operation, rather than being laid on the field in a
respective windrow.
The collection receptacle 26 may for example be defined by top-load box of a
grain
truck, trailer or wagon being driven or towed across the field in concert with
the first
cutting machine. In this particular example, the cutterbar 18 of the first
crop cutting
machine severing the plant tops and the collection receptacle 26 into which
the plant
tops T are dispensed are therefore components of separately conveyed
implements.
Alternatively, it may be possible to have the collection receptacle 26 towed
by the first
cutting machine Mci, preferably in offset relation thereto so that the
collection
receptacle rides alongside the area being cut in laterally offset relation
thereto so as
not to trample the remnant stalks left behind the first cutting machine Mci.
So during
the first pass over the first area Ai of the field, the collection receptacle
is conveyed
over the margin space S of the field.
The second crop cutting machine MC2 makes a second pass over the first
area Ai of the field in the same manner described for the earlier embodiment,
thereby
fully clearing the first area of the originally standing crop. Figure 15 shows
the first crop
cutting machine Mci then making a first pass over the second area A2 of the
field, during
which the collection receptacle 26 rides over the fully cleared first area Ai
of the field in
one of the unoccupied bands B1 , B2 thereof so as not to disrupt the centrally
laid
CA 3018055 2018-09-20
19
windrow of stalk cuttings C in the first area Ai. In this embodiment, the
windrow outlet
22' of the second crop cutting machine MC2 may be set to a more outboard
location in
order to increase the with of the unoccupied band B2 between the windrow of
stalk
cuttings C and the next field area to be cut, thereby better accommodating
travel of the
collection receptacle 26 through this unoccupied band B2 as the first crop
cutting
machine Mci traverses that next area of the field. Figure 16 shows the same
field area
as Figures 14 and 15 once all areas thereof have been fully cleared, thus
leaving only
a singular windrow in each and every area of the field, and more specifically
only a
windrow of remnant stalk cuttings C without a corresponding windrow of plant
tops T.
These remnant stalk cuttings are then baled types by one or more baling
machines MB1,
MB2 in the same manner described for the earlier embodiment.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above
described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made, it
is
intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be
interpreted
.. as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
CA 3018055 2018-09-20
