An Australian inventor has designed a new machine that reduces weed seeds at harvest time.
The Harrington seed destructor is pulled behind the combine like a chaff cart and destroys weed seeds as they exit the combine.
Inventor Ray Harrington said the machine pulverizes some seeds and cracks others.
He unveiled the machine last month at a farm conference in Swan Valley, Western Australia, hosted by the Western Australia No-Tillage Association.
Weed seeds with cracked kernels either don’t germinate or produce plants that lack vigour and are less likely to compete with crops.
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Machine prototypes have proven successful in research tests.
The machine will go into limited production this year and is expected to be tested on four or five farms during Australia’s 2010 harvest, according to information posted on an Australian government website.
“We’re getting exceptional results,” said Harrington, who developed the machine with assistance from the Western Australia Herbicide Resistance Initiative and the Australian Grains Research and Development Corp.
“WAHRI testing shows that more than 90 percent of weed seeds are being destroyed by the machine. Stopping viable weed seeds from getting down on the ground will quickly drive down the seed bank.”
Harrington told Australian farm reporters that the machine instantly deals with straw, destroys weed seeds and spreads the material back onto the land.
“It’s basically a mill that’s got high speed steel bars in it that haven’t got close tolerance,” Harrington told Australian broadcaster ABC Rural.
“It’s not a close grinding machine, it’s an impact machine.”
