ADVANCING INNOVATION
Improvements in technology and equipment are happening all the time in the seed sector. Innovations in seeders and sorters are driving the industry forward.
Every so often, technological innovations come along that have the potential to revolutionize industry practices. The makers of the CX-6 Smart Seeder are confident their machine holds such promise.
“It’s fairly disruptive technology,” says Colin Rosengren, who helped design the seeder. “It’s a big leap — like when the first air drill was created and took over from diskers and drills.”
Rosengren is a director with Clean Seed Agricultural Technologies Ltd. based in British Columbia. He says each of the six openers on the CX-6 has wirelessly controlled meters that allow the operator to deliver precise amounts of seed and inputs to maximize efficiency and yield while reducing costs.
The seeder uses prescription maps to deliver crop enhancement products where they’re needed most. The result, according to Rosengren, is “very controlled metering on a foot-by-foot level of each individual product.”
He says farmers can be more responsible with fertilizer usage, because it eliminates over-application in areas, such as headlands. It also helps optimize return on investment for inputs. Micronutrients typically only need to be applied in certain areas, Rosengren says, and the CX-6 can apply them at the right rate and in the right spots.
He describes the CX-6 as a new class of seeder not because of its precision, but its capacity to deliver multiple products. “We have up to six product capabilities, versus a planter that can only do one product,” he says.
The federal government is supporting the CX-6 with an investment of $1.8 million to Clean Seed Agricultural Technologies. The funding, which comes from the AgriInnovation Program, will help build more production models of the CX-6, as well as upgrade the production line.
“This technology represents a new step forward in precision, no-till farming,” says Terry Beech, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Science.
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The CX-6 Smart Seeder is at the forefront of innovation in seeding technology. Photo: Clean Seed Capital Group.[/caption]
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