Tommy's Vanderbilt Senior Engineering Project on the Traction Tillage System is moving along well; in fact, the professor in charge of the project, has decided to advance the project to the Capstone Project level next semester. It will be published in a slick Vanderbilt publication and featured in an exposition at the end of the year. Tommy has applied for a non-provisional patent. The journal, Successful Farming," has published an article this month on Tommy's invention, and it is featured on their web site:  http://www.agriculture.com/machinery/soil-compaction-solution_197-ar35025  In case you have not viewed the computer model of the Traction Tillage System, you can do so in the YouTube video at this link:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGm6WZMlCCo

The Road that Led Tommy Thompson To Create the Traction Plowing System

I grew up on a farm in Mississippi and for several years drove across the delta of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana while working on another job for VillagePrints.com, a graphic arts company that I developed and own. I observed farmers driving large tractors back and forth across their fields. I understood what this was doing to the soil since I had served for several years as head of the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station's Art and Photography Department. In that job, I produced many technical bulletins, the MAFES newspaper, slide presentations, and annual reports. I heard soil compaction discussed many times in meetings and in conversations with professors. Since I am naturally a "problem solver," I tend to think "outside the box," and developed my idea of a solution to this problem. Iowa State has looked at my idea and is impressed. Mississippi State is also looking at my idea. Vanderbilt University's Engineering School is considering using my system as a project for their senior engineering students.

You can check out my idea at this link on YouTube:
Soil Compaction Possible Solution

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Possible Solution to Soil Compaction

Soil compaction is a problem for the world's farmers due to the weight of the equipment used in agricultural operations on crop fields.  Ten to twenty percent of every crop's yield is lost due to soil compaction because plant roots cannot penetrate compacted soil. A new agricultural system that does not involve a tractor has been designed to reduce compaction by as much as 90 percent. In the process of reducing compaction, fuel consumption will be reduced by at least 50 percent, and dust will be reduced by more than 50 percent. This environmentally friendly system can be applied in plowing, planting, fertilizing, cultivation, and spraying operations. By reducing fuel costs and increasing yields, this system can result in a savings of billions of dollars for the agriculture industry.

This system or another similar system will never become reality unless the public demands it to save on fuel costs, increase yields, and decrease dust pollution.  

To view a 6-minute video of the new plowing system, please click on the link below.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGm6WZMlCCo