Buying a Seed Cleaner

Buying a Seed Cleaner

Seed cleaners are a critical piece of equipment for separating seeds from unwanted materials like dirt, dust, broken seed, chaff and plant debris. This improves the quality and viability of seeds, which can increase germination rates, yields and profitability of crops. Seed cleaning machines are used by farmers and seed companies to produce high-quality crops.

When purchasing a seed cleaner, there are several options depending on your needs. For example, a standard seed cleaner can be used to separate small amounts of seed and is typically designed for wet seeds. It consists of a rotating cylinder with indents that accept only the desired seed, while chaff and other material falls into a catch pan below. A more advanced model, which is often used for finish cleaning, includes an aspiration air system to remove fine material.

There are also precision cleaners, which offer a greater level of separation based on size and other characteristics. These can be used to produce high-quality seed that meets strict export standards or to improve the efficiency of downstream processing in a grain facility. These cleaners are usually larger than standard seed cleaners and can have multiple screens to achieve precise separations.

The type of seed cleaner you select will depend on your crop variety(s) and how much material you’ll need to clean. If you have a lot of weedy materials in your seed, for example, it may be worth investing in a more expensive machine to ensure that your clean seed is of the highest possible quality.

Seed cleaning facilities can range from small on-farm seed washing operations to large commercial seed cleaning facilities. Some of these are operated by producers who own and run the facility together, but other times they are owned by a cooperative of seed growers that use the facility to save on operating costs.

For a farmer starting out, the equipment needed to build a seed cleaner can be quite cost prohibitive. If you have a large amount of seed to process, you may be better off renting space at a commercial facility or finding a partner to share the costs and the responsibility.

Having short term bulk material storage is also essential to help manage the risk of mold, insects and mycotoxins. This storage should be located in a cool, dry area to limit the time that your seed is exposed.

In our January shared learning call, Iowa Cover Crop farmer Bill Holz discussed his experience with running a seed cleaning operation. He and his business partner grow and buy oats, wheat and rye from neighbors as well as other native grass seed varieties to sell to co-ops, retailers and individuals. They now have a permanent seed cleaner set up at their farm in Jefferson, IA.

The equipment he purchased to get started included two 1950s Clipper seed and grain cleaners and a Crippen H434A, a four-screen grain, seed and bean cleaner. The Clipper has 49 screens with various sized holes, and oscillates as a fan blows the chaff and light materials away from the seed. The system can clean 75 to 125 bushels per hour.

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