130 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2017 Seed and grain cleanerS for the world Crippen Northland Superior Supply Co. 8-851 Lagimodiere Blvd. Winnipeg, MB Ph: 204-925-6141 www.northlandsuperior.com Air Screen Cleaners Indented Cylinder Length Separator Gravity Separator These efforts went through industry peer review, which culminated in ISO standard 17962:2015 Agricultural machinery – Equipment for sowing – Minimization of the environmental effects of fan exhaust from pneumatic systems. “As an industry, we looked at the full array of seeding systems. Since pneumatic systems have the greatest impact or influence on the overall conversation, we looked at those types of systems. “With ISO 17962:2015, manufacturers have a standard to test and evaluate the performance of their planting equipment,” says Bursiek. “As an agricultural industry, we all have a role to play in telling our story and helping with issues that may come along. We want the public and especially the seed industry to understand that we are making serious efforts to provide good solutions to growers.” “There is really a sense that by sharing the best information, we can benefit the industry as a whole.” - Chris Bursiek Dynamic Standards ISO 17962:2015 specifies various means of minimizing fugitive dust from pneumatic vacuum-style planting equipment. The standard was last updated in 2015. “Over the past 10-15 years, the seed protection people have spent more time understanding the marrying of the seed and seed protection products. That is a very positive set of work,” Bursiek notes. “What we are trying to do through this standard is - if for some reason some of that treatment does not stay on the seed - to make sure we are directing it into a place that is appropriate.” The standard itself has two parts. The first part provides a method for looking at planter designs and determining whether it is the best practice in regard to how a vacuum planter should release air from its vacuum system. Considerations include at what height and at what vorticity is best to minimize the movement of anything that might be in the air from moving off the field. The second part of the standard establishes a way for manu- facturers to take their equipment to the field and actually test it to see how well it performs in the field. “This provides a robust way of collecting data and gives us a repeatable way with a high level of confidence to know that we can compare test results,” he says. “One of the key things about standards is that they are moving documents. They go through a review process every five years to say is the standard still relevant? Is there new informa- tion that needs to be applied to the standard? Do we need to revise it? A nice thing about the standard is that it continues to improve as new information becomes available.” Open Forum Conversations To develop best practice standards, conversations between relevant stakeholders take place globally. “Within the working groups we develop standards in open forums, anyone can participate in standard development,” Bursiek says. “Part of standards development is information