When Sarah Chu began researching the efficacy of seed impact mills in cotton, she knew it might be an uphill battle. Seed impact mills were originally designed for small grain production, not cotton and its unique harvesting equipment. But with the support of her Texas A&M University advisor, Muthukumar Bagavathiannan, as well as several organizations including Cotton Incorporated, the GROW network, and one of the pioneers of harvest weed seed control, Australia’s Michael Walsh, Chu discovered that seed impact mills might just have potential for use in cotton production, but not without some caveats.
Research suggests seed impact mills could clean up cotton fields
1 of 3
A cotton field looks bare after harvest.
From left, the graphs depict where weed seeds ended up after harvest with a cotton picker and a cotton stripper.
Weed seed kill rates are calculated for gin and bur debris after passing through the seed impact mill.
Most Popular
LUCK, Wis. – There was a time when folks came together all across the land. They helped thresh each other’s grain. They raised barns. Get-toge…
Few pests eat away at farm profitability as much as soybean cyst nematode. Causing at least $1.5 billion in yield losses annually, it’s soybea…
With an increase in severe storms and strong winds, row-crop farmers are looking for new ways to work with Mother Nature. Several seed compani…
Pollinator declines are a global concern, and agriculture sits at the center of the challenge. As farms grow more efficient and landscapes bec…
Some things are easy to start but difficult to control and difficult to end. Arguments, wars and wildfires are among them. And while few of us…