News & Articles
Innovative Native Seed Harvester
MBRCT
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Lee and Maggie Arbuckle and colleagues at Native Seedsters, Inc. (NSI) used rapid prototyping techniques to develop two models of a native grass seed harvester, the Arbuckle Native Seedster. Seedster technology was specifically developed to increase seed harvest efficiency of the most difficult to harvest native grass species. The role of native grass for reclaiming disturbed lands and biofuel is well documented. An important example is switchgrass with potential for millions of acres as ethanol feedstock. After release in late 2007, Seedsters were sold to a switchgrass research facility and a Nebraska seed producer. |
In 2008 NSI contracted with Ceres, Inc. to design and build several units of a specialized switchgrass seed harvester. A grant from MBRCT supported analysis of an NSI team of grass scientists and botanists of morphological characteristics of native grasses that contribute to seed harvest difficulties and efficiency. These are characteristics such as awns, seed hairiness, seed size, type of inflorescence, indeterminacy, and disarticulation. A database was developed that exhibits the key morphological characteristics of 197 species of native grass seed that are commercially traded in the continental United States. |
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