Sorghum germination results are available within seven days of the sample arriving at MWSS.  Samples with low germination results are checked for dormancy with a post-tetrazolium test and retested with prechill if significant dormancy is found.  October and November warm germination values are presented in Table 1, it appears new crop sorghum is represented by mainly the November 6-10 data.

Average germination percentages of samples received this fall are comparable to previous seasons.  Table 2 below shows a month by month comparison of germination results from this season to previous seasons.  Note, we do received a consider number of carryover sorghum seed lots in August, September and October which may lower monthly averages. Another measure of seed quality is the cold vigor test and we are seeing increasing usage on sorghum seed.  The 200 seed test includes a 7 day cold stress period at 10˚C followed by a 4 day warm period at 20-30˚C. 

Alternaria spp is a common field fungus of sorghum which grows as a grayish-black film on the seed coat.  A dry 2006 harvest season has reduced the occurrence of field fungi colonizing seed surfaces and field weathering, which is a positive for seed quality. When present in germination tests the percentage of Alternaria spp infecting the 400 seed test will be reported. 

Table 1