b'ROBIN OMARAPRESIDENT, Visual Appeal Does Not OMARA AG SERVICESromara60@msn.comomara-ag.com Indicate EfficacyWhere Does It Fit ? IMAGINE ITS SPRINGand your grower customers are anxiously awaiting soil temperatures to enter the 50s. When it does, they are ready to roll, and WHEN A BUSINESSwants to add an opticalyou better be too. As they open that big black box or watch the seed pour sorter to an existing facility, there are some immedi- into the planter, their hopes for a successful and profitable growing season ate critical Where Does It Fit questions: Wherehinge on the seed in front of them.does it fit into the flow of the existing productionWhile it might make you and growers feel good to see evenly coated seed line ? Where does it fit into the available space?with a nice sheen, appearance doesnt indicate efficacy of whats on the seed. There isnt always an obvious spot for the newPreviously, Ive used the saying that redder is not always better, and thats equipment and the requisite supporting equipment.true but it doesnt matter what color you use. Optical sorters have so many capabilities ena- Appearance doesnt tell us anythingall it does is make us feel good. Just bling them to simultaneously detect and sort forlike the saying we shouldnt judge a book by the cover, we shouldnt judge a light and dark seeds, color defects, impurities, plusseed treatment by its appearance. So how should we judge a seed treatment seed size and shape. These technological marvelsapplication? can sort for just about any color in the spectrum.Knowing the accuracy of a seed treatment and the actual amount of active Where to place them in the production line is aingredient per seed is complex. In the case of soybeans, specifically, the active debated topic.ingredient is applied at a specified amount per seed; it doesnt matter if its a Optically set the gravity, thats a weird phrase,big seed or a little seed. Each seed gets the same amount of active ingredi-huh? Optical sorting is not a replacement for den- ent, but this doesnt necessarily make for a visually appealing seed. Some seed sity separation because they do vastly differentwill be darker and some seed will be lighter. Thats the nature of treating seed things, although both machines can remove manyon a per seed basisit doesnt mean that you arent following the label rate. of the same impurities. Precision density separa- In fact, its just the opposite and we can show that internally and with farmers tion is based on meaningful differences in testthrough transparency in data.weights, essentially weighing the product with airTechnology advances allow us to print out a report and all the data that to separate lighter impurities, while optical sortingaccompany that seed for internal pur-is based on the seeds visible differences, remov- poses but also for customers so ing impurities by tone, color, defect, size, or shape.they can know whats actually Optical sorting combined with precision densityon that seed. The only way to separation provides the best defense againstget past the visual inspection impurities that can occur from year to year. is with numbers. With hard Is your product good enough to meet puritydata that comes from real-requirements, or could an optical plus gravitytime application recordings. combo improve your seed quality and help youThis is automation. This is stand out from the competition? Modern machinestransparency. This is not the with touch screen controls allow an operatorfuture, its today. to store settings or recipes to provide a base-line starting point for different crop conditions. Looking ahead, plans are afoot to incorporate automatic sampling of discharge test weights into gravity separator calibration.We have had the pleasure of working on many installations with Buhler-Sortex optical sortersJASON KAEB and Oliver Manufacturing density equipment.DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, Regardless of Where it Fits, we can recommendKSI CONVEYORSthe best solution and ultimately deliver what our @jasonkaeb_ksicustomer asks.JasonKaeb@ksiconveyors.comKSiConveyors.com40/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2020'