We want to commend the exceptional scientific rigour of this study. The sheer scale of work is monumental. Well done to SAGIT, Sam and Stuart from Trengrove Consulting, Kondinin group, and the University of Adelaide on this amazing research.
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Dr Nick Berry provides commentary on the South Australian Grains Industry Trust Mill Report |
"After 14 years of working out how to kill the prolific Australian weed, annual ryegrass onboard a harvester, table 1 in the recent study still hit me right between the eyes.
At modest throughput, we see the lowest level of control I've seen in the iHSD mill (from my PhD), Seed Terminator Standard, and High Capacity machines.
For 15 years, world-class research in Australia has focused on testing with seed sourced from pasture seed growers for its supply and consistent viability. However, the background weed seed in this test proved exceptionally tough to kill, presumably because of its small size."
DR NICK BERRY, SEED TERMINATOR
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Footage from the June 2022 SAGIT testing in progressThis raises a critical question about the range of size and toughness of seeds from the field - do the adverse growing conditions of a ryegrass weed exposed to herbicides and crop competition lead to smaller seeds? We have started collecting samples to find out. It is clear that the type of seed and the size of the seed are both critical for testing.
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Who sponsored the mill testing completed in 2022?
The 2022 Mill Benchmarking was sponsored by the South Australian Grains Industry Trust.
The research was conducted by Trengove Consulting by Sam Trengove and Stuart Sheriff.
The Kondinin Group crew Ben White, Mark Saunders and Josh Giumelli were on site to document the process and release the SAGIT report written by Tregove Consulting.
The research was conducted by Trengove Consulting by Sam Trengove and Stuart Sheriff.
The Kondinin Group crew Ben White, Mark Saunders and Josh Giumelli were on site to document the process and release the SAGIT report written by Tregove Consulting.
Why does the background population of ryegrass matter?
Traditionally doing mill testing mostly clean chaff would be used and then ryegrass purchased from a supplier would be added. The ryegrass purchased from Yankalilla seeds for this batch of testing was 2.8 which is much bigger (and easier to kill) than the background ryegrass population with a seed size of 2.1. The smaller background ryegrass seed can be seen in the significant difference of these results to previously published, with drops in mill speed, increases in chaff load and wear showing high reduced seedling emergence.
Trengove Consulting is analysing ryegrass seed sizes in the paddock across Australia to see what size is found, as there are some smaller again, but we don't yet know if those smaller seeds a still viable.
Trengove Consulting is analysing ryegrass seed sizes in the paddock across Australia to see what size is found, as there are some smaller again, but we don't yet know if those smaller seeds a still viable.
Which mill companies agreed to the testing?
All three major mill manufacturers agreed to supply their equipment to Trengove Consulting to conduct the benchmark mill testing. Only Seed Terminator and iHSD featured their results in the report.
Pilot testing by from 2021 sponsored by Seed TerminatorOriginal pilot test results from 2021 with a limited testing program, benchmarking all three mill manufacturers.
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R&D Aim: Maximum Kill
Net benefitNet benefit $/hectare favours killing as many seeds as possible even at low capture rates. We have been modelling the cost benefit and have found with over 50% capture of weed seeds in the front of the header, you are better off getting as many weed seeds as you can with the Seed Terminator. Our engineering team are targeting maximum kill to maximise benefit.
Interestingly, 30% capture or less and lower kill models make more sense. We have also developed a new mill technology 'High Capacity Screens' that offers an alternative value proposition; market competitive kill results, lower power, wear and cost + plugs into the Seed Terminator. It was introduced to the market in 2018 and is available as a retrofit option to all Seed Terminator owners now. |
Moisture content changes seed resistance to impact.
The graph below shows the effect of weed seed moisture content when relying on impact alone for Reduced Seedling Emergence (RSE% or kill), for example the red line shows 4 impacts at 70 meters per second; at 10% moisture content it has high RSE or kill, but at 13% moisture it drops to 90% and at 17% moisture the kill is 70%.
What does this mean? In high moisture content scenarios impact alone has significantly reduced efficacy. The second point here is that if there was a drop in mill speed, relying on impact alone, the green line shows 4 impacts at 50 meters per second at 10% moisture the kill is just over 60%.
What does that mean for Seed Terminator? The Multistage Hammer Mill Technology has three stages of screens to classify material for size, the chaff material and weed seeds must be smashed small enough to fit through each stage of screens. Multiple stages enable high capacity while maintaining pulverisation to consistent level at a range of rotational speeds.
What does this mean? In high moisture content scenarios impact alone has significantly reduced efficacy. The second point here is that if there was a drop in mill speed, relying on impact alone, the green line shows 4 impacts at 50 meters per second at 10% moisture the kill is just over 60%.
What does that mean for Seed Terminator? The Multistage Hammer Mill Technology has three stages of screens to classify material for size, the chaff material and weed seeds must be smashed small enough to fit through each stage of screens. Multiple stages enable high capacity while maintaining pulverisation to consistent level at a range of rotational speeds.
Effective Mill Speed
How long does it take to change out the multistage hammer mills?
It takes approximately 20 minutes to changeover screens. Simply remove the chutes, undo 5 bolts and swap the screens over.
Will i be able to use the latest mill technology in my seed terminator?
Yes, the Seed Terminator tech platform will be able to slot in the latest mill technology. We want this to be a future proof solution.
Independent Testing
South Australian Grains Industry Trust funded research conducted by Trengove Consulting in 2017 found ryegrass weed seed kill was 93% at 2250 rpm and increased to 98% or greater at normal operating speeds (2500–3000 rpm). Results also showed more than 99% control of several other species including wild radish, brome grass, wild oat, bifora, bedstraw and tares and increasing chaff flow rate (harvest rate) did not reduce control of these species.
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Power and wear is the enemy, or is it?If you are not using power or wearing material you are not killing weed seeds.
You can expect approximately 0.5 L/tonne more fuel in wheat. The theory says that the minimum fuel to kill 98% of weed seeds is 0.3L/tonne
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“You can’t expect it to turn stuff into flour for no power draw cost”
- Simon Reynolds, WA
Power Equation
Ptotal = Pdrive + Pno load + Pprocessing
Processing PowerHow many seeds do you want to kill? The Energy to Kill weed seeds (ryegrass) from Nicks thesis, the energy to kill ryegrass seeds, damaging (vs reduced seedling emergence or kill) follows this curve. its not a step curve, as not all the seeds are the same. Below minimum energy there is no seed kill or damage.
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Aerodynamics and their role in no-load powerAs you can see from the images here, there is a turbulent wake behind the truck, creating hot air which is wasted energy. These aerodynamics (along with rolling friction) is largely why a truck uses more fuel/km than a sports car. At Seed Terminator we spend a lot of energy manufacturing the profiles of our components and making them aerodynamic. At 300km an hour the reduction in turbulence is compounded, allowing us to minimise the no load power.
Dr Nick Berry Thesis, BEng(Hons) 'Optimisation of an impact mill that processes chaff exiting a combine harvester to devitalise annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) seeds'
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R&D Aim: Wear
With 500+ machines in the paddock we've learned a huge amount about wear. With this knowledge under our belt we are adjusting our thinking on wear; "if you are not using power and not wearing out steel you aren't actually killing weed seeds." This means we should minimise wasted wear by minimising soil into the mills but maximise weed seed capture and weed seed kill, because cutting lower to capture more weeds is akin to applying a high dose of chemical; it costs more, but it's more effective.
Mill wear is not repairs and maintenance, its closer to a drum of chemical.
1 | RegionalSoil type is a huge factor in wear. Mostly the soil that causes the wear, if you aren't getting soil in the front it doesn't matter what the soil type is, unfortunately its inevitable you will particularly when harvesting low to the ground. This ends up the mill.
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3 | Related to Harvest SpeedFront bouncing due to high speed and tyres lifting sand up and throwing it into the front or the harvester cleaning fan.
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2 | Front technology is KeyLow cut heigh with a rigid front can get a lot of sand. We've found flex fronts can be much better can double or triple the life of a mill in equivalent crops in equivalent soil types.
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4 | Crop TypesLegumes can be worse. Canola almost protects wear parts. If the target is to kill as many weed seeds as possible, you need to cut as low as possible to ensure maximum capture of those potentially HWSC or herbicide resistant weed seeds.
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R&D Aim: Header Performance
Grain Capture or Weed Kill? Both.
Not all mills are created equal.Aerodynamic tungsten coated mill technology for even wear, reduced no load power and long lasting performance. Changeover time? 20 Minutes, simply slot in the latest mill tech and go.
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^^ Top Brand New AeroIMPACT3 mills
^ Bottom AeroIMPACT3 Mills after 320 hours in Muntadgin, WA |
why is no load power important?
Quite simply because power used to run the machine (no load power) is wasted power.
How does aerodynamics affect no load power?
At 300km/hr would you rather be in a Ferrari or a truck? Aerodynamics (along with rolling friction) is largely why a truck uses more fuel/km than a sports car. At Seed Terminator we spend a lot of energy manufacturing the profiles of our components and making them aerodynamic. At 300km an hour the reduction in turbulence is compounded, allowing us to minimise the no load power (think wasted power).
why do we need maximum power going into weed seed kill?
When Dr Nick Berry studied the power and impacts required to kill a single ryegrass seed in his PhD back in 2010 he discovered there is a minimum energy requirement to devitalise the weed seed. In simple terms if the mill technology isn't using this minimum energy its not actually killing the weeds.
Power Equation Ptotal = Pdrive + Pno load + Pprocessing
Minimum Energy Requirement is 15 kJ/kg (this is EXCLUDING no load power)
Power Equation Ptotal = Pdrive + Pno load + Pprocessing
Minimum Energy Requirement is 15 kJ/kg (this is EXCLUDING no load power)
Do all mills use the minimum power requirement to kill ryegrass?
We encourage farmers to check this information, we believe in continuous testing to continously improve for better outcomes for Farmers. There is new benchmark testing data out as of 2021.
The latest development in Mill technologyHIGH CAPACITY SCREENSOur High Capacity Sceens have been designed to allow the operator to continue harvesting in tough conditions. Providing kill rates between 82-90% depending on mill speed and weed seed type. They are compatible with all Seed Terminator screen tech, and can be installed in 20 minutes.
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"Herbicide Resistance has global significance with 267 weed species identified as resistant to 165 herbicides in 97 crops in 72 countries.”