Australian farmer’s weed-destroying invention draws world interest

An Australian farmer’s invention, which destroys weed seeds during harvest, has the potential to reduce the need for herbicides in grain farming and is gaining interest from around the world.

The Harrington Seed Destructor (HSD) is the brainchild of Western Australian farmer Ray Harrington.

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We discussed this one in chat a few days ago.

I’d like a small version for my garden.
Something I could rent for a day.
They need to expand the idea.

Peak Warming Man said:

We discussed this one in chat a few days ago.

yes. Yet another bullet in the magazine of tyhe world domination of wheat amoury.

Lets pull all the stops out so we can create a desert monoculture.

It’s a grand invention for some farmers. It is a loss for Monsanto. But it doesn’t help the earth at all.

Tau.Neutrino said:

I’d like a small version for my garden.
Something I could rent for a day.
They need to expand the idea.

Do you only grow wheat in your garden?

roughbarked said:

Peak Warming Man said:

We discussed this one in chat a few days ago.

yes. Yet another bullet in the magazine of tyhe world domination of wheat amoury.

Lets pull all the stops out so we can create a desert monoculture.

It’s a grand invention for some farmers. It is a loss for Monsanto. But it doesn’t help the earth at all.

that’s “Monsatan”.

so we use less fuel by having a more economic farming method. good.
Monsanto aren’t only, or even the only, a herbicide resistant crop manufacturer. they do a lot of other stuff. Using less herbicides. good.

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

Peak Warming Man said:

We discussed this one in chat a few days ago.

yes. Yet another bullet in the magazine of tyhe world domination of wheat amoury.

Lets pull all the stops out so we can create a desert monoculture.

It’s a grand invention for some farmers. It is a loss for Monsanto. But it doesn’t help the earth at all.

that’s “Monsatan”.

so we use less fuel by having a more economic farming method. good.
Monsanto aren’t only, or even the only, a herbicide resistant crop manufacturer. they do a lot of other stuff. Using less herbicides. good.

All good. Make more production of food that people throw away without eating at the expense of the habitat and it’s inhabitants.

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

Peak Warming Man said:

We discussed this one in chat a few days ago.

yes. Yet another bullet in the magazine of tyhe world domination of wheat amoury.

Lets pull all the stops out so we can create a desert monoculture.

It’s a grand invention for some farmers. It is a loss for Monsanto. But it doesn’t help the earth at all.

that’s “Monsatan”.

so we use less fuel by having a more economic farming method. good.
Monsanto aren’t only, or even the only, a herbicide resistant crop manufacturer. they do a lot of other stuff. Using less herbicides. good.

There are lots of good things about it but they wouldn’t have needed to be necssary if they hadn’t large scale koncked everything down and planted weeds in the first place. Especially since it turns out that they didn’t need all that food anyway.

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

yes. Yet another bullet in the magazine of tyhe world domination of wheat amoury.

Lets pull all the stops out so we can create a desert monoculture.

It’s a grand invention for some farmers. It is a loss for Monsanto. But it doesn’t help the earth at all.

that’s “Monsatan”.

so we use less fuel by having a more economic farming method. good.
Monsanto aren’t only, or even the only, a herbicide resistant crop manufacturer. they do a lot of other stuff. Using less herbicides. good.

All good. Make more production of food that people throw away without eating at the expense of the habitat and it’s inhabitants.

so how is that the farmers fault? yet you want to penalize them.

but large scale is more economical. waste is another problem altogether. don’t conflate the two.

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

that’s “Monsatan”.

so we use less fuel by having a more economic farming method. good.
Monsanto aren’t only, or even the only, a herbicide resistant crop manufacturer. they do a lot of other stuff. Using less herbicides. good.

All good. Make more production of food that people throw away without eating at the expense of the habitat and it’s inhabitants.

so how is that the farmers fault? yet you want to penalize them.

You don’t know a lot about farming do you?

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

All good. Make more production of food that people throw away without eating at the expense of the habitat and it’s inhabitants.

so how is that the farmers fault? yet you want to penalize them.

You don’t know a lot about farming do you?

probably more than you. but that aside…

ChrispenEvan said:

but large scale is more economical. waste is another problem altogether. don’t conflate the two.

I don’t disagree. The problem is that the comprehension of economics is askew.

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

so how is that the farmers fault? yet you want to penalize them.

You don’t know a lot about farming do you?

probably more than you. but that aside…

You’ve been a farmer all your life then?

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

You don’t know a lot about farming do you?

probably more than you. but that aside…

You’ve been a farmer all your life then?

why, have you?

> it is a loss for Monsanto.

> that’s “Monsatan”.

You mean the firm full of high court lawyers and judges that occasionally dabbles in biotechnology.

> The machine can be retro-fitted into modern grain harvesters and, with cage mill technology adapted from the mining industry, pulverises weed seeds to the point where they are no longer viable.

> This means that when the chaff is spread back over the paddocks after harvest, viable weed seeds are not spread in the process.

I fully approve of that.

mollwollfumble said:

> it is a loss for Monsanto.

> that’s “Monsatan”.

You mean the firm full of high court lawyers and judges that occasionally dabbles in biotechnology.

No, that is what ignorant people think. people who don’t actually know what they are talking about. I mean, how can Monsanto have as employees a high court judge for a start? oh that’s right they do it for the shill bucks. FFS!

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/10/18/163034053/top-five-myths-of-genetically-modified-seeds-busted

https://monsanto.com/company/media/statements/gmo-contamination-lawsuits/

> how can Monsanto have as employees a high court judge for a start?

That’s back to front. There is or was a high court judge that previously worked as a lawyer for Monsanto.

mollwollfumble said:

> how can Monsanto have as employees a high court judge for a start?

That’s back to front. There is or was a high court judge that previously worked as a lawyer for Monsanto.

so?

Lawyers often become judges or politicians. Many lawyers act for dodgy companies, the J Bish for example, ran the case for James Hardie against the asbestos victims, and it hasn’t stopped her career.

mollwollfumble said:

> how can Monsanto have as employees a high court judge for a start?

That’s back to front. There is or was a high court judge that previously worked as a lawyer for Monsanto.

I believe in the US in civil cases a company like Monsanto or a giant law firm can pay judges to hear their cases.

thing is Monsanto doesn’t go around suing people. and anyway, monsanto isn’t the only biotech company. but you never hear about any others.

mollwollfumble said:

> The machine can be retro-fitted into modern grain harvesters and, with cage mill technology adapted from the mining industry, pulverises weed seeds to the point where they are no longer viable.

> This means that when the chaff is spread back over the paddocks after harvest, viable weed seeds are not spread in the process.

I fully approve of that.

It is quite the perfect improvement of the combine harvester.

ChrispenEvan said:

thing is Monsanto doesn’t go around suing people. and anyway, monsanto isn’t the only biotech company. but you never hear about any others.

It is all true. Monsanto are simply probably the biggest. Like all businesses the model is to gain all or most of the market share.

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

probably more than you. but that aside…

You’ve been a farmer all your life then?

why, have you?

Have been involved in agriculture and horticulture virtually all of my life, yes.

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

thing is Monsanto doesn’t go around suing people. and anyway, monsanto isn’t the only biotech company. but you never hear about any others.

It is all true. Monsanto are simply probably the biggest. Like all businesses the model is to gain all or most of the market share.

not even the biggest.

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

You’ve been a farmer all your life then?

why, have you?

Have been involved in agriculture and horticulture virtually all of my life, yes.

so, not a farmer.

you wouldn’t get this shit if you didn’t move the goalposts.

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

why, have you?

Have been involved in agriculture and horticulture virtually all of my life, yes.

so, not a farmer.

you wouldn’t get this shit if you didn’t move the goalposts.

Oh I’ve certainly been a primary producer for decades.

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

Have been involved in agriculture and horticulture virtually all of my life, yes.

so, not a farmer.

you wouldn’t get this shit if you didn’t move the goalposts.

Oh I’ve certainly been a primary producer for decades.

do you think that i don’t know what you mean?

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

thing is Monsanto doesn’t go around suing people. and anyway, monsanto isn’t the only biotech company. but you never hear about any others.

It is all true. Monsanto are simply probably the biggest. Like all businesses the model is to gain all or most of the market share.

not even the biggest.

and if I slip a word, instead of saying among the biggest.. You immediately believe that I’m talking shit. OK I don’t blame anyone for that but there is always this problem in any internet chat.

ChrispenEvan said:

roughbarked said:

ChrispenEvan said:

so, not a farmer.

you wouldn’t get this shit if you didn’t move the goalposts.

Oh I’ve certainly been a primary producer for decades.

do you think that i don’t know what you mean?

No.

I do believe that it is something that probably should always have been considered in the manufacture of combine harvesters and as such it is way overdue. However, it likely won’t be a miracle fix. For example, if farmers fit it and expect not to be spraying herbicides, then they’ll likley find that they need to think again. It won’t happen overnight and it won’t kill all the problem weeds. These things will all take time and better management but this is a big step along the way. It will likely hurt the big chemical companies a bit but not a lot. It should reduce the amount of herbicide that farmers currently use in time.

The weed problems are huge and anything that can help reduce them with less herbicides will surely be a boon for many broadacre farmers.

This may not reduce the price of grains nor necessarily increase the yields by a lot. It should help the profit margins of those who use it and may even cause more expansion of broadacre grain production and the clearing of land for this purpose.

It is also likely to continue to reduce the seed bank of native grasses and understorey plants, in effect giving more dominance to a small handful of species that we call food plants.