There’s a common myth that being good at drawing or painting is an inborn talent. Either you have it or you don’t. But studies have repeatedly shown that drawing is a skill that can be learned, and the more you do it, the better you get. Plus, having a good teacher helps a lot.
When I started working in the seed processing equipment sector in 2006, I visited a company that specialized in pelletizing seed. In those days, making good pellets was considered complicated, an art form practiced by a select few experienced experts. To take a very small seed, like a vegetable seed, and pelletize it, that is, make it into something that’s more easily handled, looks like a tiny BB, and is perfectly round, was quite a feat.
Or so it was believed.
After experimenting, the Premier Tech/PETKUS team developed some basic instructions for the recipe we wanted to build and how it should be applied to the seed. Within two hours, our technician created beautiful seed pellets.
I quickly realized that seed pelletizing wasn’t an art. It didn’t require a special skill set that only a very experienced person possessed; it required some basic knowledge and the power of automation. It also required a change in mindset, which up to that point said that you had to have decades of experience with seed treatments to make a good pellet.
Modern seed treating is a form of applied engineering and modern equipment is actually making it easier than ever, especially if you work with an experienced equipment provider who understands the machines and can help you master them.
Fast forward to today, and automation has made pelletizing even simpler. With the power of automation, seed treating in general is a lot more precise and allows customers to make the most of the tiny amount of space that exists on the surface of a seed. Modern machines and their innovative approach to seed treatment do this in a variety of ways.
First off, they’re gentler, thereby reducing dustoff and other harm to the seed and seed treatment process. Air cushion technology during the encrusting and pelletizing of seeds not only allows for gentle handling but improves drying and reduces dust abrasion.
They do more at once. All treatments, including diluting agents, dyes, polymers or other pelleting and coating substances, can be applied subsequently and/or at different times and intensities during the automation process. Within a single batch and machine, the product can be treated and dried simultaneously. Towards the end of the coating process, the air flow rate can be increased to further dry the seed.
They allow for a systems approach. Coated seeds often do not need multiple steps to dry fully, but if further drying is needed, modern belt dryers use an ingenious air flow solution that allows for highly efficient but gentle drying. An integrated belt dryer reduces manual labor and eliminates cross-contamination with chemical residues. Different machines can be used in harmony to create the final product and offer custom solutions.
They make the most of the surface of a seed. Seed and seed treatments aren’t cheap. They’re a big investment, and as both seed and seed treatments become more sophisticated, automation is needed to both handle the seed appropriately and ensure treatments are applied properly and effectively.
They allow you to do more in-house. Going back to my pelletizing example from the beginning, many of these treatment steps used to be done by a few custom companies. These days, people are bringing these capabilities in-house, because a company like Premier Tech is helping them understand how the technology works and how automation makes it possible to do what they couldn’t do before.
I’ve had experience treating just about every kind of seed you can think of, from the smallest seeds to much larger ones like corn and chickpeas. As automation becomes more advanced, we’re able to apply more accurate doses to the seed and maximize the small area of a seed’s surface in ways we never have before.
Seed coating is not an art; it’s a form of applied engineering that we’ve spent a lot of time perfecting at Premier Tech/PETKUS. And now, we can pass it on to virtually anyone who wants to benefit from the capabilities of modern seed coating and drying equipment.
For info visit ptchronos.com/agriculture
