Locally made weed control product Seed Terminator will now be available to CNH Industrial customers
An Australian-made combine harvester attachment which destroys unwanted seeds before they germinate will be made available to Aussie dealers of products from CNH Industrial.
The Seed Terminator, which is designed and made in South Australia, is a mechanical device which targets herbicide-resistant weeds.
Ongoing university trials in both Australia and overseas show the device can kill up to 99 per cent of rye grass seeds, which the company says are notoriously tough.
Combine harvesters made by CNH Industrial brands Case IH and New Holland will now be compatible with the Seed Terminator, with the attachment able to be ordered as an extra with 2023 models, while customers with existing harvesters can discuss their requirements with their dealer
Seed Terminator’s website also lists multiple John Deere and Claas models the product is compatible with.
The Seed Terminator was introduced in 2016 and there are now over 650 machines operating across three continents.
Globally, there are 267 weed species that are resistant to 165 different herbicides, the company says, and Seed Terminator inventor Nick Berry says the product is an important way of tackling these weeds.
“These may be the only herbicides we ever have to control weeds and allow us to produce food, and we’re destroying them at an alarming rate,” he says.
“We need technology to preserve those chemicals, allowing us to produce enough food, to feed the world.
“We started this company on the principle of getting this technology to as many farmers as possible as quickly as possible, and as economically as possible. This agreement with CNH Industrial Australia is the next significant step.”
In 2016, Grain Research Development Council estimated weeds cost Australian grain growers about $3.3 billion annually while also leading to yield losses of 2.76 million tonnes.