Wheat School: Options for Poor Quality Seed Lots — What Can a Seed Treatment Fix?

Poor germination results were common last fall.

Wheat School Featured imageThere’s no shortage of less than stellar wheat out there — the weather near the end of summer and early fall was not kind to harvest or the resulting grain (remember all that snow in September, Alberta?). While some quality parameters aren’t deal breakers and might be managed through bumping seeding rates, others can’t be fixed or treated for and really should mean finding an alternative seed source.

But what about seed treatments? Seed treatments are going to protect the seed you have from certain disease — though not all — but there’s only so far a seed treatment can take your wheat.

As Holly Gelech of Biovision Seed Labs explains in this Wheat School, dormancy and frost damage can’t be fixed by any product — you’ve got to know what you’ve got, so you can take action ahead of seeding. Check out the video below for a look at what diseases can’t be mitigated with a seed treatment, and some ideas on when to source a new seed source.

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