O’CONNORS Farm Machinery used the Mallee Machinery Field Days to launch the new Harrington Seed Destructor.

The machine, which is being distributed nationally by McIntosh Distribution, was a hit at the field days this week.

O’Connors Farm Machinery’s Nicholas Clements said the machine destroyed weed seeds to prevent them from regrowing.

“The product has been a few years in the making,” he said.

McIntosh Distrubtion’s Darryl Verburg said the equipment captured product and chaff through a sieve.

“It spins at 3000 revs a minute and has the ability to kill 99 per cent of weed seeds,” he said.

Mr Verburg said the inventor, Western Australian farmer Ray Harrington, spent 22 years on it.

“We knew if was coming for the past four years,” he said.

“There is great interest and this will completely change weed seed management.

“Instead of windrowing or burning, which loses nutrition in the soil and takes more manpower to do, farmers can use this."

The seed destructor comprises two hydraulically-driven cage mills mounted within the rear of harvesters, just below the sieves.

Research by the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative has determined the mills can destroy 93 to 99 per cent of weed seeds, preventing the majority from entering the soil seed bank.

Initiative director Steve Powles said it was satisfying to see farmers adopting harvest weed seed control tactics.

“All of our research shows this is the way to help keep weed numbers down and grow more crop,’’ he said.

Twelve Harrington Seed Destructors were trialled in Western Australia last year.

Improvements were made after the trial.

Mr Verburg said the enhancements focused on improving the machine’s cooling capacity; adjusting the chute design to allow better feeding into the mills and accessibility to the sieves; and setting up the hydraulic system to constantly provide 3000 revs a minute, enabling material to move freely through the mills.

He said the coolers became easier to clean out, with double swing-out doors, while the new chute design allowed switching from cereals to pulses without any changes.

Other enhancements included different oil cooler particle screening options, including a fixed or rotary screen, and simplified user interface on the in-cab control, display and monitoring system.

Mr Verburg said the technology was generating enormous interest, with 50 to 60 systems expected to be installed into headers this year.