27 May 2020
On Friday 22nd May, Harrington Seed Destructor held a free webinar for everyone to join from the comfort of their home or cab and ask questions on the day to be answered live.
GUESTS INCLUDED
Peter is an agronomist with Weedsmart in Western Australia. He has been living in Geraldton for the past 25 years, 20 years of which have been spent focusing on harvest weed seed control. Peter has been heavily involved in the development of the Harrington Seed Destructor technology with Ray Harington.
Campbell is a West Australian Grower with approximately 5000 hectares 2 hours east of Perth in Wyalkatchem. He first invested in a Harrington Seed Destructor in 2016, installing the hydraulic mill before changing to the vertical mill last year.
WATCH WEBINAR BELOW
TRANSCRIPT BELOW
QUESTION 1
Does the iHSD affect Combine capacity?
ANSWER 1
Johnny:
It’s very dependent on area crop size and Combine size; on the bigger class 9 and 10 machines, you may find minimal impact on capacity.
On smaller machines such as the class 7 and bigger crops in South West Victoria, you may find your Combine will need to work harder.
We’ve found an average of approx. 10% drop in capacity across all Combines, but you wouldn’t see those numbers on the class 9 and 10 Combines.
Across the board, 10% is a reasonable number to anticipate.
In a class 7 Combines in 5-6 tonne wheat and barley crops, the machines did slow down a bit more but growers were happy to take the hit capacity for the higher weed kill rates.
Campbell:
We were very happy the way it handled during harvest, there was a small reduction in capacity but I am happy to wear that. Harvest capacity loss is acceptable.
QUESTION 2
Has Campbell changed the way he uses pre-emergent herbicides now that he has the iHSD?
ANSWER 2
Campbell:
No, I haven’t changed the way I use pre-emergent (pre-em’s) herbicide.
I’ve taken a massive weed control stance in my program by doing a lot of chemical fallow, followed up with GM Canola to control weeds in my worst paddocks first.
I have kept the pre-em’s in my program but they don’t have to work as hard to keep the weed numbers down now that I use the iHSD, the pre-em’s are now getting used a little bit better.
Johnny:
Across the board, spraying rates tend to climb up over a period of time but to my knowledge, people haven’t raised their rates since fitting an iHSD.
QUESTION 3
If I spend money on the iHSD, will I save money on herbicides?
ANSWER 3
Peter:
Eventually, you will but it will take time. What farmers find is year 5 or 6 when the population of rye-grass reduces. It’s not until that point you can save money on Herbicides.
You might not always save money on the pre-em’s as they will remain in the system as another tool. It will take up to 5 -6 years until you see the difference in populations.
Campbell:
I noticed that after 2 -3 years of using my iHSD, the amount of rye grass in the crop has dropped dramatically. The iHSD gives farmers back control over their weeds.
QUESTION 4
Does Campbell ever remove his iHSD for certain crops, such as; direct heading canola?
ANSWER 4
Campbell:
I thought about it for the canola however, we didn’t have any problems and didn’t find a need to do this. The vertical mill has handled our canola very well so didn’t take it off for this year.
QUESTION 5
Campbell, do you think in 10 years you will stop using your iHSD?
ANSWER 5
Campbell:
I couldn’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to be using it all the time. The result’s I have been seeing is proof in itself. There is a clear line in the sand where you can see where iHSD has been and where it has not, the results are pretty unbelievable.
If you can, check out a demo header working alongside the iHSD and you can see the clear line in germinations.
QUESTION 6
Can the mills process higher moister material like sorghum stalk and leaf? Can corn cobs be milled?
ANSWER 6
Johnny:
Some R & D work has been done in SA in regards to harvesting Lucerne. The mills were changed to allow some more damp green material through, more testing is currently being undertaken on the kill rates and mill capacity.