Farmers are busy pencilling out the numbers for the upcoming crop season.
In an effort to try and reduce costs many producers use farm-saved seed or bin-run seed from the previous crop.
Producers that are looking at doing this are now deciding whether or not to have the seed cleaned.
Crops extension specialist Mackenzie Hladun submitted the following article on the topic.
Bin-running seed is a common practice among Canadian producers. Bin-running entails growing a crop and saving some of the harvested seed for planting in future growing seasons. Canadian producers are allowed to bin-run seed and use it on their own farm under the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act. Many producers will opt to bin-run seed for several reasons instead of purchasing certified seed every year. One downside to bin-running is you’re not guaranteed clean seed for the next year and farmers often clean their seed during the winter.
Why should you clean your seed? Cleaning your seed improves the overall stand and quality of your next crop. Cleaning seed removes the smaller, lower quality seeds. Also, it will remove large amounts of weed seeds that were harvested with the crop. By removing the weed seeds, you prevent those weeds from being transported into your next field. Also, if herbicide resistance is a concern on your operation cleaning seed is a great management tool to help prevent the issue from spreading. Seedling blights can also be reduced by removing diseased seed from the harvested crop and preventing them from being planted. Being able to exclude weeds and disease from your fields makes seed cleaning a great integrated pest management strategy as well as an overall crop quality improvement.
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