Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 5228 The CX-6 Smart Seeder features SeedSync Software, which enables the integration of seed and soil maps to optimize site-specific management. Photo: Clean Seed Capital Group. EVERYso often, technological innovations come along that have the potential to revolu- tionize 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 enhance- ment 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 head- lands. 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. INNOVATION “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 invest- ment 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. Optical Sorting Catches Hold Another sector that’s experiencing rapid technological change is optical sorting equipment. Optical sorters have been used in food processing and other industries for quite some time, but Mark Metcalfe, president of Nexeed Inc., notes adoption within the seed sector has taken off in the past few years. Nexeed distributes cleaners and sorters made by Italian manu- facturer Cimbria. “We’re seeing a fairly significant uptake and a lot of interest from people in the seed processing industry today,” Metcalfe says. More and more, optical sorters are seen as a neces- sary counterpart to the traditional mechanical methods of screening seeds that make separations based on length, width and density. Improvements in technology and equipment are happening all the time in the seed sector. Innovations in seeders and sorters are driving the industry forward. Advancing