Agriculture tool is rooted in Penn State startup

Editor’s note: The following is part of the Business Matters special section.

Corey Dillon began working for a local potato farmer in seventh grade, a first job that planted the seed for his career.

Dillon is an agricultural researcher at Penn State, where he fabricates and modifies farm equipment.

He helped develop InterSeeder Technologies, a startup business that offers a multipurpose planter for the agricultural industry.

“Our implement combines four field operations into one compact unit,” he said. “The InterSeeder is the only agricultural implement on the market that can plant a cover crop between the rows of corn, soybean, cotton or other row crops.”

This technology was created in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for InterSeeder?

A: In 2010 there was a group working on a research project at Penn State to determine the effects of removing corn stover for cellulosic ethanol production. This means gathering all or almost all of the corn stalks off the field left behind after corn grain has been harvested in the fall. Removing all of the plant matter off the field also removes essential nutrients that the soil needs to be productive, (and) the removal of the plant matter leaves the soil exposed to erosion from wind and rain.

To offset the problem, a cover crop could be introduced into the grain rotation to make up for the loss of the corn stalks and protect the soil. This, however, creates a new problem, which is getting the cover crop planted and growing before winter sets in. In addition to that project, grain farmers have had mixed success for years with establishing cover crops after grain harvest in the fall. The reason for their lack of success is the time of year and the weather is not in your favor. The workload created by harvesting dominates a farmer’s busy day and doesn’t leave them with much time to go out a plant a new crop. That is where we come in.

Q: It doesn’t seem like something that is particularly easy to create. What challenges did you face creating it?

A: Building the InterSeeder was a challenge in its design. We incorporated four different field operations in one piece of agricultural machinery. That required us to design our unit to carry additional components that need to work effectively in the field. We needed a design that allowed us to plant cover crops between the rows of corn or soybean in late June when the crops are young and growing rapidly. This required special attention to the fact that we needed to design a 2-ton machine that could be pulled through fields with a large tractor while not damaging the young corn plants. Our design allows us to place the seeds into the soil to increase germination and success of the cover crop establishment.

We needed to come up with a management plan to grow two crops at one time in the field. This required finding compatible herbicides to use, finding the correct seeding rates of the cover crops, determining the appropriate time to plant the cover crops, identifying cover crop species that can survive under a corn or soybean canopy, and finding and selecting the appropriate corn hybrids and corn populations that are acceptable, all without decreasing grain yields of the cash crops. There is a lot of science that goes into our technology.

Q: Could you explain the technology behind InterSeeder?

A: The technology involves a new concept in agriculture. The InterSeeder plants a cover crop between the rows of corn or soybeans when the crop is typically 6 weeks old. The reason we plant the cover crop early in the season is to ensure that it is well-established by fall so that it can provide the multiple benefits to the farmland and help improve water quality. If we can have well-established cover crops going into the fall and winter we can dramatically reduce the amount of soil loss and nutrient loss into the ground water and streams.

In addition, cover crops can provide forages for grazing livestock, increase the water holding capacity in the soil, increase organic matter, reduce soil compaction and suppress weeds. Traditionally, cover crops that are planted later in the growing season or after grain harvest can be less consistent with their establishment and success. We have seen a modest increase in grain yields when in the following year we plant next year’s cash crop into what remains of the cover crops that we planted with the InterSeeder. We actually have a system where we can improve the environment while increasing grain yields. It’s a win-win.

Q: When would someone use it?

A: About six weeks after corn planting or in mid-June to early July in this area.

Q: How is it different from other products?

A: Currently there is not an agricultural implement that incorporates all the functions we do with the InterSeeder. (Nor) is there an implement designed to direct seed or drill a cover crop between the rows of a cash crop. Most farm machinery is designed to do a single function. Our machine saves time and money by incorporating several field operations in one operation of the InterSeeder.

Q: How much has the company grown since its creation?

A: We have been selling equipment for about two years now and our sales have been strong. We doubled our sales goals for 2015 and have orders coming in for 2016 already. We now have four sizes of InterSeeders to choose from with our newest model, a 30-foot width unit for the Midwest market. We are seeing much more interest from the Midwest where improving water quality and increasing soil conservation is becoming more of a priority.

Q: What is key to continuing to grow its reach?

A: The key to growing this business is to continue to grow the size of our equipment, continue to improve our equipment based on customer feedback and get early adopters to try this in new locations. Interseeding cover crops is not a one-management-plan-fits-all school of thought. We find that as the geography changes from location to location across the U.S. and Canada, so does the management plan for interseeding. The feedback we get from our customers in these new locations is extremely valuable to help others who wish to try our technology. We also have been thrilled with the growing number of universities and conservation professionals across the U.S. and in Canada that are beginning to look at this concept and are initiating research projects to help improve the success.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 2:50 PM with the headline "Agriculture tool is rooted in Penn State startup."