1999's variable weather is having a negative impact on soybean seed quality. That means soybean growers considering saving non-patented soybeans for use as seed next spring will want to think long and hard. Particularly in the southern two-thirds of the state where it was extremely dry, the seed quality of the soybeans is the lowest we've seen in years. Small seed, cracked and split grain, a high amount of foreign matter in the form of pods, and an inordinate amount of disease infection are combining to rob soybean seed of the germination and energy it will need to be viable for planting next spring. Beuerlein is encouraging soybean growers to definitely purchase new seed from a certified seed producer for the 2000 planting season.
Every healthy crop starts with good quality seed.
Any farmer trying to save seed for next year needs to think again. In Minnesota, very wet weather and an early frost in parts of the state damaged immature soybeans reducing the seed quality. Walker Kirby, nematologist and soybean training specialist at Agri-Growth in Hollandale, Minn., and former soybean specialist at the University of Illinois, has always recommended soybean growers plant new seed. If a grower buys seed from a commercial seed supplier, he always knows it will be high quality. The cost is much more than a bag of seed.