Grass seed cleaning capacity has been increased at N M Stovin Farms, based on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds, with the addition of two Indent Cylinder Separators – supplied and installed by McArthur BDC.
The separators will work alongside the existing JK Machinery JCM VibroMAX sieve cleaner and will enable grass seed to be cleaned to a purity above 98%, eliminating cleaning costs from the merchant and enabling expansion.
“By cleaning grass seed to the certified standard, we no longer have to pay our seed merchants to complete the cleaning process. This is a considerable saving, as cleaning costs were in the region of £45K a year, and we no longer have to worry about crop rejections as we can deal with any purity issues on farm,” said Andrew Stovin who farms with his father Alan and brother Mathew.
The farm comprises 500 hectares, with 160 hectares down for grass seed, with the added benefit of adding biodiversity to the business.
“Our increased cleaning capability also provides us with the opportunity to drive up our bottom line by expanding our seed cleaning business to more farmers,” added Andrew.
An additional Skandia belt and bucket elevator has been installed to feed the new separators, with existing Skandia equipment already in place to load and unload the overall cleaning system.
The Indent Cylinder Separators separate impurities based on length, which is crucial as during the harvesting process, the grass stems can snap into different lengths. Seed passes from the inlet housing into a rotating cylinder, with impressed pockets for length separation. Seeds that end up in these indents are carried upwards on a rotating cylinder and fall into the trough to be discharged.
Materials of different lengths remain inside the cylinder until they are discharged. The Stovins’ two models are positioned on top of each other, with the top one taking out shorter material and longer impurities being removed in the second.
As well as having a cost-benefit, the cleaned seed is heavier and denser, meaning more can be loaded into the lorries which provides a logistical and environmental benefit to the company.
The farm grows grass seed on a two year cropping cycle, with Andrew stating that they have seen a boom in wildlife, including key species such as hare, skylark and yellowhammer. It also reduces the autumn workload as no cultivation needs to take place. After the first harvest, sheep are brought in to graze the grass.
“We have found grazing tight to the floor makes a real difference to the second crop and also helps with volunteer growth, and the sheep provide a constant top-up of organic matter,” said Andrew.
“McArthur BDC’s grain and seed handling expertise has ensured that we have made the right decisions around which cleaning equipment to install. They gave us the confidence that our cleaning process would work and deliver the results we needed.
“The entire McArthur BDC team did a great job for us when installing the additional Indent Cylinder Separators, we gave them just two weeks from finishing the cleaning of our cereal seeds with the JCM VibroMAX to needing to start cleaning the grass seed – and they delivered!”