New business for Darfield

Press, 15 January 1982, Page 7

New business for Darfield

A new seed cleaning business opens in Darfield at the end of this month, providing farmers in the district with a service for which they previously had to travel to Christchurch.

A huge corrugated iron store has been built in Horndon Street. Darfield. by the Darfield Seed Cleaning Company. The processing of small seeds will begin here in February, but the company is already operating in Malvern with a portable machine for the cleaning of grain and peas. The opening of the Darfield plant is a milestone in the career of Mr Vernon Ellis, of Hinds, who owns the seed cleaning company.

Mr Ellis started out in business 20 years ago with a portable seed cleaning machine. His Hinds enterprise is now an important part of the farm-servicing scene in that area, and the business has grown to the extent that Mr Ellis now employs six people. The lack of any independent seed cleaning business in the Darfield area convinced Mr Ellis that this area would be suitable for the expansion of his business interests.

The increase of irrigation development was another factor he believed should augur well for business.

"The use of irrigation should stabilise crops and provide more predictable yields with a consequent brighter outlook for this business," Mr Ellis says.

Two thirds of the 648 square metre building is intended for storage, and the remaining area will house the machinery for the seed cleaning. The plant has been manufactured by Peter Sutton Engineering. and includes separate units for the cleaning of clover and grass seeds.

The seeds pass over a series of screens, some of which are made by the weaving of very thin wire, and others are made by the perforation of a piece of sheet metal. The mesh varies from 324 holes per square inch to 1296 holes per square inch.

In stage one. the seeds go through a "scalping screen” which separates off the bits of straw, husks and other large pieces of rubbish which have come through in the heading process.

In the next stage, the seeds pass over a screen which clears all the stuff which is smaller than the size of the seeds. Chipped and irregular shaped seeds come out in the next two stages, and through

the whole process a system of aspiration lifts off the dust from the seeds.

A sample of the resuitant material is then sent to Palmerston North for a purity and germination analysis. If this is up to Ministry of Agriculture standards, certification is granted. Mr Ellis says his Hinds plant had a very high percentage of samples accepted for certification, and he expected the same trend at Darfield.

The quality of seed coming in for dressing can vary a great deal. Mr Ellis says some farmers might lose as little as five per cent volume, and other batches could contain up to 30 per cent impurities. Mr Ellis says the Darfield Seed Cleaning Company would base its charges on the dressed weight. Straw and weed seeds are the predominant impurities

in untreated seed. In rye grass seed, the most common weeds are goose grass and hare grass. Sorrel and suckling clover are the worst pests amongst the clover seed.

As well as any types of clover and rye grass, the Darfield Seed Cleaning Company will process brassicas, cocksfoot, fescue and browntop varieties.

Experience at Hinds has taught Mr Ellis that it is best to keep on a run of one type of seed for as long as possible. to prevent contamination between different species. At Hinds, he spends two or three months on white clover and rye grass alone, and at Darfield, schedules will be sorted out according to demand.

After the finish of a run of one type of seed, the equipment has to be thoroughly cleaned before the next run starts. The woven screens are cleaned with a nylon

brush, and a steel scraper is used on the perforated screens. This continual cleaning. and the constant shaking of the screens causes them to wear out and as a result they need to be replaced every three or four years. Work started on the Darfield building on November 6, and Mr Ellis is "very pleased" with the progress which will enable him to open the plant for business by the end of this month. Local builders, Mr Geoff Russell and Mr lan Maver, were contracted for the construction. The steelwork and concrete contracts went to Darfield businesses. BrayStreet engineering, and Warwick Leech Concrete respectively; and Mitchell Bros, supplied the timber.

The new seed cleaning business has been built on a new industrial subdivision in Darfield and some land is still available for future ventures.