Planting Early? Get Your Seed Tested

If you are thinking about planting early or using a starter fertilizer, especially in-furrow, consider getting your seed tested to better understand the potential and limits of your seed. There are a wide range of tests to improve the knowledge a producer has about their seed.

For example, a warm germination will determine how seed will perform under ideal planting conditions. If you are concerned about your seeds’ vigor, run your seeds through a set of vigor tests: standard cold test, saturated cold test, tetrazolium test (TZ), an accelerated aging (AA) test or a fast green test. All these tests are designed to mimic extreme weather conditions seed may get exposed to once in the ground.

A saturated cold test will help determine if your seed is suitable for early planting. This test simulates chilling shock and low oxygen levels by testing seeds in cold, saturated soil. This test should not replace a typical standard cold test, which emulates a typical spring planting environment. However, it does provide a useful estimate of emergence under severe conditions.

The fast green test is used in seed corn to detect damage to the pericarp (seed coat), with a quick one-day turn around for accurate test results. This test provides useful insight regarding both seed conditioning and starter fertilizer. If seed corn was harvested at a higher moisture content, more threshing is required, leading to more tearing of the seed coat. To minimize mechanical damage to the seed, this test can ensure seed processing plants still maximize output while minimizing damage to the seed from machinery. If the seed coat damage is severe, fertilizers with high salinity could damage or kill the seed, leading to poor seedling emergence and stand. The amount of pericarp damage shown in this test can identify how susceptible a seed lot may be to soil pathogens, pests, and microorganisms.

Even though Michigan Crop Improvement Association is a certification agency, it also accepts seed submissions from the public and no membership is required.