Fed up with traditional means for getting rid of weed seeds when no-tilling small grains, Ray Harrington came up with a solution to overcome the mounting concerns with herbicide-resistant weeds.

The farmer from Darkan, West Australia, says it’s been common in Australia to pull an enclosed chaff cart behind the combine to collect weed seeds for later burning. Yet, Harrington felt burning was dangerous and not always effective since he often saw ryegrass seed blowing out of the carts.

Crushing Results

As a result, he’s spent the last few years developing the Harrington Seed Destructor where both weed seeds and chaff flow into a trailer-mounted unit pulled behind the combine. The unit contains a screenless, high-speed impact mill that pulverizes the weed seeds so they can’t germinate.

Harrington says 5 years of testing by the Australian Herbicide Resistance Institute shows the weed-splitting unit kills more than 80% of weed seeds. Its own engine powers the unit, but he’s looking at using hydraulic or electric power on future units.

Non-Chemical Weed Control

Bryan Young, a Southern Illinois University weed scientist, says the idea of controlling herbicide-resistant weeds mechanically while flowing through the combine has merit.

“Waterhemp is a small-seeded weed and I think we can screen these easily from grain as it moves through the combine,” he says. “You might be able to collect as much as 10 bushels of waterhemp seed while harvesting a 10-acre area.”

In addition, Young says John Deere engineers have indicated weed seeds could be captured…