[Weekly Times 17 Nov 2010, p. 94] -- THE grain industry’s latest weapon in overcoming chemical resistance in weeds is nearing commercial reality. The Harrington Seed Destructor has applications in control of all weeds but there has been special interest in the machine with rising herbicide resistance in particular weed species. Victorian, NSW and South Australian grain growers will have an opportunity to see the HSD in action when the unit is evaluated next year. The HSD has been developed by West Australian grower and inventor Ray Harrington with assistance from the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, the University of South Australia and the Grains Research and Development Corporation. Towed behind a harvester like a chaff cart, the HSD has been developed around a cage mill crushing unit.
The unit, complete with its own power supply, incorporates chaff and straw delivery systems. During harvest, chaff collected from the top sieves of the harvester is delivered into the cage mill where it is processed to destroy any weed seeds.
Mr Harrington said the third prototype of the HSD had now been designed by a research team at the University of South Australia.
He said four new units were expected to be built within the next year and evaluation would continue to measure the machine’s short-term impact on weed seed destruction as well as its longer-term effects on weed populations and crops.
Field testing so far has shown the HSD potentially has a ryegrass seed destruction capacity of up to 95 per cent.
Similar effectiveness has also been determined for wild radish, wild oats and brome grass seed present in the chaff fraction during harvest.
Mr Harrington said the HSD was not a "silver bullet in weed management" but was one more string in the bow of overall integrated weed management.
Having switched from mixed farming to broadacre cropping about 14 years ago, Mr Harrington realised herbicide resistance in ryegrass was a serious threat to crop production.
"I decided that if I could manage weed seed set at harvest, I would have a chance to combat the weed problem and after looking at all the options and logistics, crushing the seed seemed to be the answer," he said.