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Test wheat seed germination if harvest aid herbicides are used


Manhattan, Kansas, USA
July 23, 2014

Welcomed, but perhaps untimely rains delayed wheat harvest in some areas of Kansas to the extent that herbicide applications had to be made to burn down weeds prior to harvest.  Steve Schuler, Executive Director of Kansas Crop Improvement Association, advises farmers intending to hold back some of their harvest for use as seed this fall, to have that wheat tested for germination.
 
Some herbicides, such as glyphosate, are not recommended on wheat to be saved as seed. Most, if not all, of the common herbicides used as pre-harvest aids in wheat require that the grain be below thirty-percent moisture before application.  At or below this moisture content, the grain is post-physiological maturity and unlikely, or less likely, to be adversely affected.  Seed germination can be greatly inhibited if pre-harvest herbicide applications are made at an improper stage of grain maturity.
 
The only way to be sure that germination has not been harmed by herbicide application is to have the seed tested by a professional laboratory such as Kansas Crop Improvement Association’s Seed Quality Testing Lab.  A producer may be tempted to conduct their own germination test, but home tests may not tell the whole story.
 
“Whether or not seed germination has been harmed by herbicide is really only part of the story”,  says Eric Fabrizius, KCIA Associate Director and manager of the KCIA seed testing laboratory.  “Seed germination is relatively easy to conclude from a germination test.  What is not quite so obvious is the potential damage done to seed though it appears to germinate”.
 
“Our trained analysts evaluate each seedling in a test to make sure it has all the essential structures to establish a plant in the field”, explained Fabrizius.  “The lack of roots or a damaged coleoptile resulting from a herbicide application may have a profound effect on that seed’s ability to establish itself when planted
 
“Of course, we would like to  see every producer plant Kansas certified seed, which has been professionally cleaned and tested”, says Schuler, “but if a producer has a legal right to use saved seed, we think it is a prudent step to have that seed professionally tested”.
 
Information on KCIA seed laboratory services can be found at www.kscrop.org/labservices.aspx or, call 785-532-6118.



More solutions from: Kansas Crop Improvement Association


Website: http://www.kscrop.org

Published: July 23, 2014


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