Study tour sheds new light on weed control

A diagram showing how the Weed Seed Destroyer would fit underneath the chassis of a John Deere harvester. Source: Global Neighbor

Mitch Henderson says innovations for non-chemical weed management are critical in the fight against herbicide resistance.

In Dayton, Ohio, he met Jon and Patrick Jackson of Global Neighbor Inc, who have developed a prototype to kill herbicide-resistant weed seeds using this blend of high-intensity light.

The prototype Weed Seed Destroyer bolts on the rear of harvesters. It captures chaff and weed seeds from the sieves and exposes the seed to different light wavelengths as it travels through a low-dust chamber. In this, weed seeds are exposed to, and damaged by, mid-wave infrared and blue light.

Treated material is then blown back into the harvester’s waste stream and deposited on the paddock. From entry to exit, the treatment takes about 1.5 seconds.

“The benefit of the machine is that it only uses two hydraulic hoses and an alternator,” Mitch says.

“It only has a power draw of 7.35 kilowatts (10 horsepower) and the technology, so far, is quite exciting.”

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