# Prediction of Leaf Break Resistance of Green and Dry Alfafla Leaves by Machine Learning Methods
## 1 Introduction  
Alfalfa plants are necessary for animal feeding both in Turkey and worldwide, and they are used extensively. Green and dry can be consumed as grass, as well as silage can also be used. Alfafla plants are rich in protein, mineral substances, trace elements, and vitamins, and they give high-quality grass [1]. There are losses in the nutritional value of alfalfa plants due to different reasons, from harvesting to utilization. These losses are generally losses due to plant respiration, nutrient loss, losses caused by rain damage, losses due to leaf breakage, and losses due to mechanization applications (moving and conditioning, machine type, narrowing, baler) [2]. In animal nutrition, alfalfa is mostly used in dry form, but it undergoes significant nutrient losses during drying [3]. For alfalfa grass under natural drying conditions, the dry matter, crude protein and crude amount of cellulose losses increase even more. Although dry matter losses are realized between 15 and 25%, this rate is between 35 and 100% under rain damage depending on the weather conditions. Leaf losses increase due to thedecrease in product moisture. Alfalfa leaves contain 70% of the crude protein and 90% of the vitamins. Leaves are also 40% more digestible than stems [4]. For this reason, the leaf losses that may occur in the plant should be minimized. To minimize the loss rate, moving, raking and baling operations should be completed early in the morning, which increases the drying time of the product, and therefore, higher quality and higher efficient feed can be obtained [5]. Various studies have been carried out on the physico-mechanical properties of forage crops until today, but studies on the breaking resistance of alfalfa leaves have not been found much in the literature. The determination of the leaf break resistance is very important to improve the design, optimization and efficiency of the necessary machinery, equipment and cutting tools for harvesting and threshing alfalfa plants with minimum leaf loss. [PERSON] and [PERSON] (1996) [6] studied the determination of the static and dynamic properties of flax plants indigenous to New Zealand. [PERSON] and [PERSON] (2014) [7] determined the leaf breaking resistance of age plants according to different moisture contents. As a result of the experiments conducted at three different moisture contents, it was reported that the leaf breaking force varied between 4.3 and 6.5 N (Newton). [PERSON] et al. (2013) [8] investigated the mechanical properties of rosemary stems. In their study, they found that the compression forces causing deformations were low, about 2 N, and the shear force required to break the bundle at the harvest point varied between 30 and 50 N on average. [PERSON] et al. (1987) [9] found that longitudinal shearing of alfalfa stems required less than 1/10 of the energy required to shear alfalfa transversely. [PERSON] et al. (2018) [10] carried out studies on the determination of both the green and dry leaf breaking resistance of some clover genotypes collected from the natural flora of Antalya province. It was reported that the highest leaf break force value was 1.0419 N and the lowest was 1.0022 N in the dry samples. [PERSON] et al. (1969) [11] investigated the hardness modulus of green and dried alfalfa samples and found mean values of 0.225 GPa and 1.45 GPa, respectively. [PERSON] (1992) [12] performed experimental measurements on 1700 alfalfa to determine the cutting resistance of alfalfa. The effects of factors such as the blade speed, blade opening, blade type, diameter of the alfalfa at the cutting point and cutting time on the cutting resistance of alfalfa were determined. [PERSON] and [PERSON] (1968) [13] reported that the stem of alfalfa has a tensile strength in the range 9-36 MPa and that this strength is dependent on the moisture content.