Winter is a time when farmers can look forward to spring planting, especially if stuck inside due to a winter blizzard! This next installment in our series of interviews about Superior Graphite agricultural products will get you looking ahead. In this post we’ll look at a product line called Seed SLIK. I spoke once again with Barry Lee, Product Manager, Coatings & Lubricants. We focused on Seed SLIK Graphite and Seed SLIK Talc. It is common practice to mix a seed lubricant with seeds for planting to make sure skips don’t happen where a seed does not get planted where it should. That can affect yield. Besides the seed benefit, these products are also beneficial to the machinery itself.
Graphite seed flow lubricants, are made from high quality powdered graphite powders from environmentally safe, natural mineral, and will not hurt seeds, or plantings as they grow. Small seeds benefit from the addition of graphite, allowing them to slide easily off the planter plates.
Seed SLIK Talc provides similar benefits and features as the Graphite product but has an added benefit of not affecting optical sensors, although it is susceptible to moisture. Barry says the best of both worlds is a blended Seed SLIK product which contains both graphite and talc.
Seed SLIK™ has the highest quality powdered seed flow lubricants available on the market. Talc powder is an environmentally safe, natural mineral, that will not hurt seeds or plantings as they grow. Talc seed flow lubricants are used in mechanical plate and vacuum planters for increased lubricity and wear protection. Talc is a good alternative to graphite for planters with new electronic seed meters that sometimes give false readings with graphite. Small seeds benefit from the addition of talc allowing them to slide easily off the planter plates.
You can get more information on these products on the Slip Plate website or connect with the company on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Listen to my interview with Barry here: Interview with Barry Lee