COMBATING the herbicide resistance problem one farm at a time, the Mount Gambier manufactured integrated Harrington Seed Destructor (iHSD) is creating change across the globe.
Designed by Western Australian farmer Ray Harrington and manufactured by the de Bruin Group, the machine is set to enter the international market within months.
“I became interested in harvest seed, weed management,” he said.
“Herbicide resistance is a huge problem – Europe is currently being smashed with a weed called black grass.
“The good part for us Aussies is that we are leading the globe, 43pc of farmers in Australia did harvest weed seed control last year and from my field days this year I think we could get that up to 58 to 60pc.”
After research and scientific testing by the University of South Australia’s engineering division and Australian Grains Research and Development Council, which is the license holder, the iHSD was created.
“GRDC has spent somewhere between $5m and $8m to take it from where I had it,” Mr Harrington said.
“They went out nationally for expressions of interest to manufacture and the de Bruin Group won the contract – they are now the global manufacturers.”
Currently distributed to 21 outlets across Australia, plans are in place to enter the international market.
“A test machine has just come back from the US and we got huge kill rates of more than 90pc – the first one will probably be there this year,” he said.
