Seed Control Unit trial at Carrington REC
Each year more weeds develop resistance to many of the best herbicides on the market. To combat this issue, new tools are needed for weed control. In 2023, the CREC added harvest weed seed control to our seed increase program through a collaborative project with NDSU Extension Weed Specialist Joe Ikley. There are several brands of seed control mechanisms available, but the one installed on the Carrington REC CaseIH 8120 combine is a Redekop Maverick Seed Control Unit (SCU), manufactured in Canada.
The concept behind the SCU is to destroy weed seeds during the harvest operation. All material that is separated as chaff runs through the SCU and is pulverized so that seeds are destroyed or rendered non-viable. This introduces a mechanical weed control step compatible with no-till operations. Many problematic herbicide-resistant weed seeds end up in the chaff portion of harvest residue. According to the manufacturer, many weed species experience kill rates of up to 98% when passed through an SCU, which merits an Excellent rating in the ND Weed Control Guide.
The SCU is two side-by-side impact circular mills spinning in opposite directions. Each rotor mill runs at a fixed 2850 RPMs, with a stator of U-shaped elements. Each rotor includes two rings of 16 round pins and central fan blades to draw chaff and weed seeds into the system and accelerate the material against the stator elements. The ground-up material discharges from the middle of the assembly.
Over this coming harvest season the CREC will continue to evaluate our SCU. Two weeds of particular interest at the Carrington REC are kochia and green foxtail, both of which have developed resistance to many herbicide options that support the crop diversity we raise.
We welcome visitors to the CREC during the growing season! View our combine and SCU, and let’s talk about our experiences.
The Carrington Research Center is very appreciative of the time and effort that NDSU Extension Weed Specialist Joe Ikley and Kevin Gillespie of Redekop Manufacturing invested to allow us to test this Seed Control Unit.
NDSU Extension does not endorse commercial products or companies even though reference may be made to tradenames, trademarks or service names.
Dave Copenhaver
David.Copenhaver@ndsu.edu
Foundation Seedstocks Manager
