BY CULLEN BIRD
THE
FARMGATE
BETTERGRADESFORFARMERS
RESEARCHSHOWSMACHINE’SVALUE INFUSARIUMFIGHT
A SEED-SORTING MACHINE THAT
can analyze grain kernels on a chemical
level is opening new processing possibili-
ties for Canadian grain farmers.
Swedish company BoMill has created
the TriQ, a seed-sorter that uses near-in-
frared transmission (NIT) to measure
the amount of crude protein in grain
samples on a kernel-by-kernel basis. This
sets BoMill’s machine apart from optical
sorters, which analyze the outer colour of
a grain sample.
The TriQ can sort grain into three frac-
tions based on its protein content, at a rate
of about three tonnes of grain an hour.
The University of Saskatchewan, in
collaboration with the Canadian Interna-
tional Grains Institute (Cigi), bought the
first TriQ sorter in Canada for a four-year
research project at the feed facility in
North Battleford, SK. Now into its final
year, the project focuses on applications of
the TriQ in salvaging grain from fusari-
um-infested samples.
Using the TriQ’s capabilities could
mean a big di erence for grain farmers
whose fields are infested with fusarium,
a fungus that attacks grain heads and
leaves shrivelled, often toxic kernels.
Since fusarium-damaged kernels have
low protein content, the TriQ can tell
the di erence between good kernels and
damaged ones.
“This year, fusarium’s been a killer,”
said Rex Newkirk, vice-president of re-
search and innovation at Cigi.
The Canadian Grain Commission
recommends that harvested wheat at the
elevator containing more than four per
cent fusarium-damaged kernels be graded
as unusable salvage because of the toxins
that fusarium leaves behind. Fusarium
policy di ers between provinces, and
Alberta has a zero-tolerance policy in seed
for planting.
“We’ve taken several tonnes of each
of the contaminated materials that have
been graded salvage in these cases, and
salvaged considerable amounts of grain to
be resold,” said Tom Scott, research chair
in feed processing at the University of
Saskatchewan and principal investigator
for the research project.
Scott added that with the TriQ it is
possible to raise 70 to 80 per cent of a
salvage-grade sample to grade No. 2, if not
grade No. 1.
The TriQ sorts grain inside a large,
spinning steel drum. Grain is poured into
the drum via an auger. Centrifugal force
pushes kernels into holes drilled into the
inner surface of the drum. Those kernels
are carried past an NIT sensor, which
make rapid predictions of each kernel’s
chemical profile at a rate of 24,000
kernels per second. Their protein content
determined, the kernels are then ejected
into three di erent tubes and carried out
of the machine.
The TriQ can sort wheat, durum and
barley, though each grain type requires a
di erent custom-drilled drum.
Currently, the TriQ has been calibrated
to measure crude protein, but the technol-
ogy could feasibly be extended to measure
other chemical properties, like starch, said
Mary-Lou Swift, a feed quality research
scientist at Alberta Agriculture and Rural
Development.
The potential for the new technology is
promising, but there might be cost-benefit
Spring
2015
Grains
West
10
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