The department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is well into its massive harvest program, with the aid of two new high-tech plot harvesters.
The department acquired the Zürn 150 plot harvesters, worth $330,000 each, having acquired a similar model in 2018, as part of its ongoing fleet replacement program.
Department field research manager Ian Pritchard said the new acquisitions had boosted the department’s grains research capacity.
“The compact machine has all the features of a commercial harvester, as well as onboard sampling systems to automatically record data that can be sent from the cab to the research officer,” he said.
“The model also includes an effective self-cleaning system, which makes it easy to move from one plot to another without the risk of cross-contamination.
“It does a great job of harvesting a clean sample, saving time and the cost of re-cleaning samples, while improving the integrity of the trial data.”
As a result of the 2018 trial, the department has opted to include a side chute on the new machines and retrofitted to the 2018 machine to handle and store samples.
“This allows us to harvest more plots and carry more samples, which is easier and quicker to offload,” Mr Pritchard said.
The department is working its way through harvesting more than 70,000 plots over 350 field trails across the grainbelt, as part of its extensive grains research and development program spanning cereals, canola and pulses.
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