36 Our Advertisers Appreciate Your Business Better Farming | February 2024 Ag Insights USING FARM-SAVED WHEAT SEED Save money with this seed-saving strategy. By Quinton Cubbon, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Have you ever carried bin-run seed over from one year to the next? Most likely the answer is yes, but there are a few things a farmer should consider before carrying seed over from year to year. If you decide to use wheat seed for the subsequent year, you can clean it, store it and plant it; however, you may need to provide proof that the seed was obtained legally. The easiest way to do this is to keep invoices of proof of sale for your records. One of the main reasons for using farm-saved seed is because it can save producers money as they do not need to be buying seed from a registered seed grower. Although, simply carrying bin-run seed over from year to year may not be as simple as it seems. Many steps need to be taken before the seed is kept, but one of the most important things to consider is the seed quality. One way to ensure seed will have good germination is to ensure proper harvesting practices were used. The more common way to ensure good seed quality at harvest is to either swath the crop or let the wheat stand until it is mature. Using both methods can help ensure that vigour and germination remain high for the next growing season. Pre-harvest aids are not on label to use as desiccants, but to control weeds before harvest. Although applying pre-harvest aids like carfentrazone and saflufenacil may have little effect on germination and vigour, they are not recommended to be applied without the use of glyphosate. Glyphosate, even if applied under 30 per cent seed moisture, could result in seed quality issues. Cleaning seed Cleaning seed may or may not be a common practice on your farm but is important for a variety of reasons. Having a portable cleaner come into your yard or taking your seed to a cleaning plant can help obtain higher yields. The seed cleaner can remove any unwanted and foreign material that could cause problems going through the seeder. These materials may plug seed runs and create additional delays during seeding. Cleaning seed removes weed seeds and helps lower your weed seed bank and keep crop competition low. Finally, the seed cleaner can remove small seeds that may not have strong vigour or high germination potential. Removing these seeds helps with achieving the desired crop density by removing poor seed. The screenings left behind from the seed cleaner can typically be taken to an elevator and sold. Seed quality factors Now that your seed is in storage, a sample of the clean seed can be sent away to test for germination, vigour, diseases and thousand kernel weight (TKW). The sample can be sent to a lab either before the cleaning process, if there is a cause for concern, or after, if the producer believes the wheat has good quality factors. An abiotic stress that can produce lower quality seed is drought. In the case of drought, seeds will typically be smaller. This can affect the TKW as Having a portable seed cleaner come to your yard can help obtain higher yields. Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture photo
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