Cone Processing.....

Since my last post was about the collection of cones for seed procurement this week we are going to continue with the process and take a look at how we extract the seed from the cones.

Overall the process is pretty simple but we do use a fair amount of specialized equipment and follow well established protocols to safely extract the seed from each cone so it remains viable and can be stored for many years until it is needed.

As we left off in my last post the cones were placed onto drying racks to cure. This is neccessary so as the cones cure and dry they begin to open up which is essential for coaxing out the seed during extraction.

Large drying bins placed onto the air dryer

After spending several months curing, the cones are taken into the seed extractory and emptied out from the burlap sacks in which they were collected into large bins. These special bins have screens on the bottom and are stacked one on top of another to be used with an air dryer which will finish the curing process. The dryer blows hot air in from the bottom and the air rises upward through the stacked drying bins gently heating all of the cones. This process is very slow because we need to be sure the seed doesn't get too hot or cook and the cones will spend several days in the dryer until they are fully opened and ready for the next step.

Cone Tumbler

After the cones have opened the bins are taken one by one and dumped into a machine that tumbles the cones. This large tumbler turns slowly and as the cones bounce around inside the seed is released, falls through a screen in the bottom of the tumbler and collected in a tray that sits underneath the machine.

The Clipper

Now that we have the seed separated from the cones it needs to be cleasned further. This is done with a variety of different machinery the first of which is called a Clipper. The Clipper is a specialized seed cleansing machine that uses a vibrating action and a series of different sized screens to separate the seed from any particles of cone leftover from the curing and tumbling process. The seed exits the clipper quite clean but there are always some little bits leftover that fall through the cracks so for the final step the seed is put into a machine called an air separator.

Air Separator

The air seperator uses a strong fan to blow the seed up into a large chamber where the small fragments of cone, called chaff, that weigh significantly less than the seed blow out through the top and the heavier seed falls out into a barrel at the bottom. The seed collected from this step is almost 100% pure and ready for storage in the seed bank.

Each seed lot is carefully examined for purity, bagged, tagged and placed into boxes within the freezer where it will remain until the National Forest from where it originated has a need for seedlings.

Clean seed, ready for storage