Field Expedient Combine Clean-Out to Hinder the Spread of Herbicide Resistant Weed Seed

As harvest kicks off in most areas, it is easy to tell where precipitation and temperature fluctuations impacted weed control. In many cases the lack of precipitation to activate residual herbicides, coupled with slow growth to canopy, allowed for many weed escapes in soybeans. Several herbicide resistant weeds such as kochia, palmer amaranth, and waterhemp among others can be spread via field equipment especially combines. It is commonplace to thoroughly clean combines post-harvest, but a quick clean-out in troublesome weed fields can help control the spread of weeds to other fields.

A quick clean-out could be conducted as listed below. Proper PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) such as eye protection and mask are recommended when dealing with grain and other dust.

Once the combine is empty, run the unload auger for a minute or so to allow debris to exit the auger.
Open the sump doors on the clean grain elevator, tailings elevator, unloading auger and rock trap and leave side shields open.
Run machine for a few minutes and adjust air settings to high. Also open and close concaves and adjust rotor speed to help dislodge any weed seed laden debris from these areas.
Properly shut down the combine.
Clean debris from rock trap.
Remove any chaff, dust, and other material from the exterior of the combine with a leaf blower or compressed air. Pay close attention to the header, feeder house and grain tank. (This is a great time to visually inspect the machine as well as remove accumulated debris from potential hot spots.)
Close all open sump doors, return shields to their original positions, and return machine settings to pre clean-out settings. This step seems redundant, but jotting down a quick check list to ensure the machine operational settings are restored can prevent the excessive use of foul language and headaches later.

The following link is from The University of Wisconsin Extension and is an excellent video on their YouTube channel that provides excellent information on combine clean out to prevent the spread of weed seed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDMq1UanSkE&t=3


Brian Weller Western Region 507.456.3034	Dan Ritter Central Region 219.863.0583	Branden Furseth Northern Region 608.513.4265	Mark Gibson Eastern Region 260.330.8968	Amanda Goffnett Eastern Region 989.400.3793