Vine Crusher Crushes Weed Seeds Too

Vine Crusher Crushes Weed Seeds Too CROPS Weed Control A potato vine crusher designed to control overwintering European corn borers ECB crushes weed seeds too Developed 10 years ago by researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada AAFC the crusher was 80 to 89 5 percent successful in crushing ECB larvae This past year AAFC researcher Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill found it could reduce weed seed survival by 60 to 95 percent depending on seed size “Compared to other harvest weed seed controls integrated into a combine or pulled behind the vine crusher is easy to build ” says McKenzie-Gopsill “Anyone could build one or have it fabricated locally and add it to their combine ” The exciting thing about the potential for the vine crusher is its simplicity and cost It consists of two brushes and two counter-rotating metal rollers attached below the discharge conveyer on a harvester The rollers have raised lines that enhance impact on the seeds Tension on the rollers is maintained by two heavy-duty springs Hydraulic motors power the rollers The design is size neutral with off-the-shelf components sized to the particular harvester McKenzie-Gopsill estimates it could be built for well under $10 000 Plans are available as is a descriptive fact sheet “It’s most effective on large seeds like volunteer canola barnyard grass and yellow foxtail passing them through alone and with biomass ” says McKenzie-Gopsill “Smaller seeds like lambsquarters and pigweed were more variable ” Initial research into effectiveness involved passing weed seeds alone and with biomass through a stationary vine crusher While effectiveness went down with the size of the seed and the amount of biomass passing through even a partial impact can be important Recent U S research with Palmer amaranth an extremely invasive relative of pigweed showed that even a 20 percent reduction in weed seed germination can prevent an increase in the invasive weed’s population “Our data in the simulated harvest shows that we are having a much greater than 20 percent reduction on species not as invasive as Palmer amaranth ” says McKenzie-Gopsill Located at the Charlottetown Research and Development Centre Charlottetown P E I McKenzie-Gopsill is focused on weed control in potatoes He’ll be testing the vine crusher’s impact in the field this fall “Within our region harvest weed seed control is a new technology and not well known ” says McKenzie-Gopsill “We’re hoping for promising results to get control of our weed seeds ” If successful in potatoes he recognizes the potential for the vine crusher in other crops “We haven’t focused on grain combines but we’re certainly interested in testing it ” says McKenzie-Gopsill Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dr Andrew McKenzie-Gopsill 440 University Ave Room 221 Charlottetown P E I Canada C1A 4N6 ph 902-314-3683; andrew mckenzie-gopsill@AGR GC CA

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