• On-farm trials reveal losses from chemical use
• Seed Terminator helps to stop the spread of weed patches
• Plans to fit two more Seed Terminators to combines

On-farm trials in Canada are demonstrating the benefits of the Seed Terminator for broad spectrum weed control and slowing the onset of herbicide resistance in cropping operations.

Josh Lade has been farming at Osler, Saskatchewan, for 10 years after migrating there from Australia. One thing that has piqued his interest since he has been farming in Canada is the impact of herbicides on crop yield. “One of our main weeds of concern here is wild oats,” Josh said. “As herbicide resistance becomes more prominent, some growers are finding that new chemistries coming to market also come with heavy crop tolerance impacts. “I have been finding that while grass selective sprays are important, over-applying them is impacting crop yield.”

Josh has been conducting on-farm trials to test this theory. In a wheat crop during the 2018 season, Josh found there was 4.9 bushel per acre yield penalty in areas where there was a grass spray compared to areas where there was no grass spray. With a wheat price of $7 per bushel and a chemical price of $12 per acre, this yield penalty worked out to be $46/ac.

He ran the same trials in 2020 which resulted in a 2.8bsh/ ac yield penalty between sprayed and non-sprayed areas, resulting in a $38/ac penalty including the cost of the chemical. The penalty was even greater in barley. Averaged across five repetitions, the yield difference was 6.4bsh/ac, resulting in a penalty of $42/ac.

“We have often seen a tolerance to herbicides but we have never seen it as a yield impact, only as impeded growth during the season,” Josh said. “It is only since doing these trials I have realised that, depending on the herbicide, the impact could be between 6-7bsh/ac. Other ‘safer’ herbicides could be costing us 3bsh/ ac in yield.”

Josh was one of the first growers in Canada to adopt the Seed Terminator, a mill which attaches to a combine harvester and terminates weed seeds before they enter the paddock
and become problem weeds. He believes the Seed Terminator is vital in helping to stop the
spread of weeds, such as wild oats, and therefore reducing the size of the patches of weeds requiring a grass selective herbicide.

“Grass selective herbicides are still an important tool for us as growers, but I believe we need to adopt a layering approach in order to slow the onset of herbicide resistance and lessen
the impact on the crop,” Josh said. “The first of those layers is a residual herbicide and then use a grass selective on the areas only where it is needed. That might only be 10 per cent of a paddock, but currently we are applying a blanket approach to the whole paddock and potentially compromising yield on the other 90 per cent of the paddock that does not need a  grass selective.

“The Seed Terminator will help to stop the spread of that problem patch of weeds and we know that wild oats stays in patches because of the way it drops seeds.”  Seed dispersal of wild oats is a particular problem for growers in Josh’s area.

Research conducted at the University of Saskatchewan by Shirtliffe (2009) examined the distance combine harvesters can disperse wild oats seeds and the effect of chaff collection
on combine harvester seed dispersal.This research showed that chaff collection consistently
reduced the amount and distance wild oat seeds were dispersed because more than 74 per  cent of the total wild oat seeds were ejected from the combine in the chaff.

“By running a Seed Terminator for about $10/ac, we could be stopping the dispersal of weed seeds and getting broad spectrum weed control while slowing the onset of herbicide
resistance and lessening the impact on the growing crop,” Josh said.

Besides wild oats, which Josh says is the most costly weed for him, other problem weeds include cleavers and kochia. While Josh admits he was nervous the first time he tried the Seed Terminator in Canada, the results he has seen since that first run in 2018 have filled  him with confidence. “Conditions here can go from 20 degrees Celsius to -20 degrees Celsius and we can still be harvesting,” he said. “For that reason, I was thinking we might encounter some issues but we’ve never had to take the Seed Terminator off. “We are currently running two mills on two harvesters and we plan to fit two more this season and run them on all four harvesters.

“I’m confident Seed Terminators will cost the average farm in Canada between $8/ac and $12/ac, which is a far cry from the $40-plus/ac some of the in-crop grass selective herbicides are costing.”

References: Shirtliffe, Steven. (2009). Chaff collection reduces seed dispersal of wild oat
(Avena fatua) by a combine harvester. Weed Science. 53. 465-470. 10.1614/
WS-03-109R2.

Just twelve months on from their 200th milestone, the South Australian based
company Seed Terminator is celebrating their 400th machine, and they’re not
stopping there with number 430 rolling out of the factory late last week.

Local farmer David Hesford invested in the technology for his family operation near Northam, purchasing the 400th unit through CLAAS Harvest Centre Northam branch. He shared he has always been keen on a Seed Terminator but didn't have the header to do the job until this harvest when they made a big leap upgrading their combine and investing in a Terminator all in one go.

He had been following the introduction of mill technology since the original hydraulic version and was watching the development of the technology to the proven platform it is today.
When asked why he chose a Seed Terminator over other options on the market, David said he “likes to buy Australian owned wherever possible” and shared that in combination with the quality of the product, long lasting mill components and ease of use, it was an easy decision.

He shares other farmers' concerns about weed control in the future, with concerns that there may be bans on burning and restrictions on chemical applications, “it's just another tool in the kit, we really need to get on top of weeds now. This is the time.”

Cameron Page, Sales Manager at CLAAS Harvest Centre Katanning shares “the uptake of the Seed Terminators on both 700 & 1000 Series CLAAS LEXION Combines in the Great Southern region is increasing each year. The units perform in the field and our customers have been reaping the benefits.” He feels the businesses are well aligned with customer satisfaction and safety front of mind.

Attached to the back of the combine harvester, the Seed Terminator mechanically pulverises the chaff and weed fraction, and kills 99 per cent of weed seeds.

Recent benchmark studies completed in 2021 confirm the highest kill at 99% on Australian Ryegrass, backing up previous independent weed kill testing results. This is backed by a paddock proven platform, with over 900 harvests under their belt spanning three continents.

The design is a mechanical system that uses the harvester’s drive to transfer power to two multi stage hammer mills. These grind, shear and pulverise the chaff once it has been separated out from the grain – ensuring even the toughest weed seeds won’t be back.

“Mechanical seed control is not a silver bullet but an incredibly useful tool on the tool belt in preventing or dealing with herbicide-resistant weeds by reducing the weed seed bank,” said Ned Jeffery, commercial manager for Seed Terminator.

“It’s about reducing the weed seed count carry over into the next season and increasing the lifespan of the chemicals,” he said.

Amidst assembling and shipping the Seed Terminator team paused late last week to celebrate dual milestones with September bringing the company's 5th birthday.

The new Seed Terminator Lonsdale Factory ensures uninterrupted supply of the proven platform offering quality, availability and prompt shipment of spare parts. CEO Paul Sandercock shares “sourcing Seed Terminator components is done up to 12 months in advance, we’re in a fortunate position to be uninterrupted by the covid pandemic interruption to supply. The consolidated distribution and integration of operations into a new facility at Lonsdale SA, with the capability of distributing up to 600 machines per annum is very exciting.”

The unit can be fitted to select CLAAS and Massey Ferguson models, New Holland CR models, all flagship Case IH models and all John Deere S series machines. Seed Terminator has John Deere and Case IH units available now, with shipments going out across Australia daily right through harvest.

The team at Seed Terminator know they are celebrating this success because of the partnerships they’ve developed in South Australia, Australia and overseas and wish to extend a big thanks to all those involved.

Using the Seed Terminator weed and volunteer seeds are captured and pulverised, preventing them from being spread back onto the paddock to grow next year. By adding weed control at harvest farmers are able to specifically target any potential herbicide resistant weeds while reducing the weed seedbank each season without any additional passes and controlling the green bridge. This can result in maintaining the longevity of herbicides in general but also allow farmers to be more selective with choices around herbicides and allowing them to lower production costs. ​

Dr Nick, the inventor behind the Seed Terminator shares how he came to design a mill to kill weed seeds onboard a combine harvester.

#ThanksDad

​When it comes to helping farmers win the battle against weeds while reducing reliance on chemicals, you might say one South Australian company is crushing it. Kangaroo Island-based Seed Terminator produces a mechanical device of the same name which pulverises weed seeds at the harvesting stage, before they get the chance to grow up and run riot among crops. 

The brainchild of the company’s co-founder, farmer/inventor Dr Nick Berry, the Seed Terminator tackles a problem inherent to crop farming: the fact the harvesting process is the weed’s best friend. Because when the crop is cut, once the chaff and grain have been separated, the harvester flings the chaff back onto the ground. This includes the seeds of weeds that have escaped or resisted the various stages of herbicide spraying – in other words, the toughest customers of all. When these survivors are redistributed, the whole harvesting process has simply set farmers up for problems the following year.

‘Problems’ may be an understatement. In 2016 Australia’s Grain Research Development Council estimated that weeds cost Australian grain growers about $3.3 billion annually, and – because weeds deprive crops of sunlight, water and important nutrients - yield losses of 2.76 million tonnes. They also put the cost of herbicide resistance at $187 million a year, for herbicide treatment and other weed control practices.

Nick’s invention is a smart and cost-effective solution. The Seed Terminator is an attachment that retro-fits to most combine harvester brands, and it uses multi-stage hammer mills to pulverize  weed seeds along with the chaff so they can’t sprout. What's left is a fine sawdust-like mulch that actually puts nutrients into any soil that it’s spread upon. Installed on a typical harvester, the system can distribute that mulch up to 14 metres. It’s a one stop weed killer and mulcher as well as grain harvester. 

“What tillage does, by its motion, is it rips the ground open and dries out the soil. If you are in a moisture limiting scenario like most of Australia, then that reduces your yield,” says Nick. Then along came a significant change. “All of a sudden we started to get some really effective chemicals come out, like glyphosate, which facilitated a whole change in agricultural practice. We moved away from tillage altogether, particularly in Australia.”

Still the world’s most used herbicide, glyphosate saw yields go up, and a lot of area that wasn’t suitable for cropping suddenly became viable. Then come the 90s things shifted again.  “After 30 years, herbicides start to become an issue,” says Nick. Repeated use of the same herbicides led to herbicide resistance. A small minority of weeds of one particular species, thanks to a slight genetic variation, would be resistant to the herbicide. Over years of using the same herbicide, these survivor weeds would flourish and eventually dominate. The herbicides needed to be used more often and in stronger doses.

So the focus shifted back to the machinery itself, with a wholesale change in harvester design. Phil Zani of Harvestair had the Rotomill Cage Mill working by 2001 but between 1995 and 2005 there was a doubling in capacity of machines and the design couldn't handle the throughput. There was a lot of investment in making these mobile factories more efficient, but the central problem remained; combine harvesters weren’t killing the weeds, merely redistributing them. 

Enter Nick. The farmer’s son and mechanical engineer had been paying close attention to developments in the field, and knew there must be a better solution. 

From 2010, the GRDC had stepped in, with money. They began to fund the work of farmer Ray Harrington, who had the idea of attaching to a trailer a heavy-duty mill originally designed to turn coal into briquettes but which could also crush weed seeds. But the Harrington prototype came with a few problems. First, weighing in at one tonne, the mill was a colossus. Second, it had to be trailed behind the harvester (class 9 or larger mind you). And then the biggie: the price tag. It was going to cost some $250,000 – out of reach for most farmers. 

“GRDC started to put money into it, and to realise that they needed some engineering.”says Nick The GRDC had engaged a consultant, Graeme Quick, to look at the prototype of the Harrington Seed Destructor (HSD). Quick concluded it would never be accepted by the American market unless it was integrated into the harvester. He proposed that a parallel project look into an ‘integrated weed seed terminator’ – (“The name Seed Terminator is my tribute to the great man,” says Nick). 

The project was to be run at the University of South Australia (UniSA) and, largely funded by grain growers’ levies through the GRDC, Nick was granted a scholarship for the work. His PhD research was to explore ways to kill weed seeds on board a harvester. This started with a prototype – which failed. Then it was back to the drawing board, looking at how much energy was needed to kill weed seeds. Then creating some computer modelling process to evaluate how to evaluate energy input into seeds in a mill.

“We’ve got farmers who are anywhere from 600ha to 20,000ha and they all run different brand harvesters and different size ones, but they all have sustainability issues with herbicides. They need an integrated approach, to be using herbicides but to protect them from resistance, and drive down the weed population with something mechanical. Our vision is to reach as many farmers as possible, as quickly as possible and as economically as possible. Affordability is really important. While we develop the tech, we also need to reinvest in making it better.

And so Nick set about developing his own machine. The first pilot Seed Terminators were introduced in 2016, and now there are some 250 machines in operation worldwide, each retailing for around $110,000.

The design is constantly being refined but essentially it’s a mechanical system that uses the harvester’s drive to transfer power to two multi stage hammer mills. These grind, shear and pulverise the chaff once it has been been separated out from the grain – ensuring even the toughest weed seeds won’t be back.

“With chemicals you have ‘pre-emergent’ herbicides, that you put down at the time of sowing,” explains Kelly Ingram, marketing director of Seed Terminator. “Then you have in-season herbicide spraying while the crop is growing. We come in at the end. We tidy up all the weeds that have been missed. Potentially they are herbicide resistant, or perhaps they grown later and managed to dodge the herbicides.”  

After working closely with farmer research partners over some 296 harvests, the Seed Terminator technology is paddock proven and farmer focused, says Nick. While they’ve increased the number of weed seeds killed by the mill, that’s not the only measure of achievement. They’ve also evolved the mill technology over the past four years to drive down the cost of the wearing parts and how long they last, and to increasingly decrease the amount of power used in the process.

Seed Terminator also conducts ongoing trials in a number of universities in both Australia and overseas to test the ability to kill weeds. The University of Adelaide testing found the device able to kill 99% of notoriously tough rye grass seeds. “Seeds come in different shapes and sizes so you need to apply different amounts of energy to kill them.  How we set the mill up in different parts of the world varies slightly. We also do field trials on how many seeds we can capture with the harvester.”
Explains Kelly: “We have designed our technology so it can be pretty much used anywhere. The standard technology will go out to 98% of our farmers and will work fine and the other is the high capacity for when you have tricky conditions. The standard one works well in most situations."

While the Seed Terminator is getting uptake in Europe, Canada and the USA, it’s all still a learning curve, says Nick. “We’re just trying to understand how it fits into other people’s farming systems. One of the biggest learning things is mindset differences and attitudes. Farmers in Australia are very innovative and happy to modify their machines and do something a little different in order to give them a long-term benefit. We hear words repeated like ‘I want to be able to leave my farm in a better state than I found it’. It’s a generational thing – they want to hand down the farm to their kids and grandkids.”

He believes the public perception of farmers is often skewed, but Australian farmers’ ready adoption of technology that protects the land is tangible proof of how invested they are in longevity. “To go and spend $100,000 on a Seed Terminator is amazing.”

“Farmers care deeply about their land and its ability to produce food for the world. That long-term attitude isn’t only in Australia but it is pretty unique. People come here and are gobsmacked that a farmer would spend more money on something that’s not necessarily going to deliver him a return this year but over the next four years.”

Farmers are out there, day in day out, closely observing the life cycle of the plants and the soil. “They see the issue. They see it doesn’t make any sense to spread weeds with their harvester,” says Nick. “With Seed Terminator, they are getting revenge on their weeds."

Quick to adopt new technology, farmers recognise innovation as their friend, says Kelly. “Farmers always have their finger on the pulse about the latest developments. People are coming to us; it’s farmers talking to other farmers, it’s word of mouth,” she smiles. “People are really excited about it. And it’s nice that it’s ag tech – it’s not an app. It’s a mechanical solution.”

Meanwhile, Nick sees it as Seed Terminator’s mission to stimulate change, through commitment to R&D and developing further mechanical solutions to help farmers protect their crops. “We’re not only looking at how we can smash seeds but the whole system - how can we mechanically intervene to make farming more sustainable. We want to look at this as a holistic thing.”

And from here, who knows where this journey of innovation will lead, but thank you to all grain growers who played a part thus far.