There are now a handful of Zurn’s Top Cut Collect weed seed harvesters out on UK farms as growers – both conventional and organic – seek a solution to rife herbicide resistance in blackgrass, ryegrass and brome.

The machine, which is typically employed for a two-month window through late spring and early summer, is designed to cut the heads of any weeds that stand proud of the crop.

Its folding 9m or 12m table carries a standard reciprocating knife cutterbar and reel to snip and flick the harvested heads onto belt conveyors.

These ferry the material into a central 7,000-litre hopper ready for disposal – somewhere well clear of arable fields.

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Forward speed is 5-10kph, depending on field flatness and driver confidence, with cutting height set centrally and gauge wheels each side helping to keep it level. The aim is to run it as close to the crop as the operator dares to maximise weed head collection.

This, says Zurn, fulfils two roles – to open the crop canopy by removing dominating weed plants and to reduce the soil seed bank for coming years.

Timing is essential, particularly with blackgrass, which tends to shed seed early.

The 12m model has a list price of £92,000.