Grainswest - Winter 2024

Winter 2024 Grains West 32 QUALITY CONTROL W hile school exams can cause anxiety, testing seed can net valuable quality information and peace of mind. “Testing of any seed at harvest, as well as testing throughout storage, is very important,” said Sarah Foster, president and senior seed analyst at 20/20 Seed Labs in Nisku. “Seed is at its prime when it first comes off the field. If you store it at the right moisture level, dry it when necessary and monitor it in the bin, you can maintain it in prime condition.” If testing indicates the quality is high when it goes in the bin, continued testing can ensure it remains high throughout storage. As with any commodity, the more you know about it, the better positioned you are to address issues early on. “When seed is on the moist side, you can get bacteria growing in the bin that heats up in pockets and leads to abnormal seedlings,” said Morgan Webb, accredited seed analyst and co-owner of Seed Check Technologies in Leduc. “On the other hand, seed that is too dry can experience mechanical damage, especially with peas, lentils and beans, but this may happen even in cereals. In that case, the plant embryo could crack, and the plant will grow without the structures needed to produce a mature, healthy plant.” While knowing why to test is a good start, knowing what to test for ensures you measure what matters most. “The main tests we advise for growers are germination, vigour and disease, including a complete fungal screen,” said Foster. “It is also not a bad idea to have the thousand kernel weight (TKW) taken for your seeds.” VIGOUR IS VITAL (VIM IS OPTIONAL) Vigour testing used to be hyper-focused on strength. Is this seed strong enough to be planted in cold soils? Howwill it perform in a Canadian spring that is early and wet? According to Foster, however, the scope of vigour testing has expanded. EXPANDED SEED TESTING HOLDS AGRONOMIC AND ECONOMIC ADVANTAGES BY GEOFF GEDDES PHOTOS COURTESY OF SEED CHECK TECHNOLOGIES