He stores the saved seed in trucks or trailers until time to plant and spreads it with a fertilizer spreader into corn stalks, so he doesn't have it cleaned. Cleaning would add another 50 cents a bushel to his costs. He also said he experiences more disease problems with grain from elevators. Tommy Saltzman, a Hansford County producer, said it all boils down to economics. He plants Certified Seed when he intends to harvest it for grain and VNS wheat from the elevator for grazing purposes.
Cost is the biggest factor.
Certified Seed does cost more, but if you are going to harvest it as grain, generally speaking the additional yield will offset the cost. As far as graze-out wheat for cattle, I can't honestly say the Certified is better,'' he said. There definitely are more problems with cross-contamination with triticale, rye . . . It's a matter of economics. When we're trying to raise bushels for production, we raise the higher-quality seed.