An analysis of the 2008 sorghum warm germination scores shows that the seed quality is typical of previous years. This year’s percentages of samples falling within the shown germination ranges closely follow the averages for the past 8 years.

Just as it is important to vigor test soybeans, corn and rice, the same holds true for cotton. The costs of farming inputs continue to escalate, and double-checking the quality of the seed you are selling is cheap insurance. The traditional cold test temperature of 10°C has been determined to be too severe for warm season crops such as cotton, so the cotton cool test was developed (AOSA, 1983).  It measures the potential of a cotton seed to germinate and produce a normal seedling in cool, wet soil.

The spring rains which delayed or destroyed spring planted crops also had an impact in many areas on the winter wheat crop. Fusarium or Head Scab in wheat is a common problem when cool damp conditions persist during the flowering period. In the seed lab we are seeing some severely infected seed lots with germinations well below 80%.

Just as with corn, soybeans or cotton, there are benefits to vigor testing your wheat seed. One of the most reliable vigor tests is the Accelerated Aging test. It is highly researched, well documented, and provides an excellent means to compare one seed lot with another.

When choosing where to send your wheat seed tests consider that the time between harvest and sales is very short. Your chosen seed laboratory must be able to get your samples planted on the day of arrival using whatever combination of methods you want. You also want a seed laboratory that will provide you diagnostic information if the seed happens to have a germination problem.

Last summers’ spring grain tested great right after harvest, but now winter is here and the time for retesting begins on the previously conditioned product.  At Mid-West Seed Services (MWSS) we plant your wheat seed the day of receipt with and without seed treatment.  This saves valuable time of retesting later if it turns out your seed germination percentage benefits from seed treatment application.

The 8th Annual Native Seed Quality Symposium will again be a great opportunity for the native seed industry to discuss current issues and research.   

Over the last 100 years of seed testing, seed analysts have fit virtually every species tested and traded into the same mold as wheat, corn, soybeans, and cotton.

Sunflower harvest has begun, and the biggest seed quality hurdle faced for the conditioner and the seed laboratory is dormancy.

The method of testing Tall Fescue samples may change in the future!

This past year, a rules change proposal was submitted to the AOSA/SCST membership for a vote.  The rule would change the basic methods of performing a purity analysis on Tall Fescue.

Accelerated aging (AA) tests on wheat are one of the best measures of your seed's ability to perform in the field. The seed is placed in an accelerated aging chamber where it is subjected to 72 hours of nearly 100% relative humidity and a temperature of nearly 100 degrees F.

Wheat samples have been arriving in the seed laboratory. The rains in Texas have limited the number of fields being harvested, but the quality has been good on everything that arrived prior to the “Monsoons”.

Sorghum harvest is nearly complete and germination testing is picking up.  Side-by-side testing  (no prechill versus 7-day 10°C prechill), we found that the West Texas produced new crop sorghum does not show any significant level of seed dormancy.

Once the snow is off the ground spring planting will begin and with a short window of opportunity to plant don’t get caught without a current test on your seed. Although many years of data indicate that the AA (Accelerated Aging) test is a good predictor of emergence for Winter Wheat, a recent study done at North Dakota State University indicates that this may not be the best test for predicting emergence for spring wheat planting.