Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112Seed Quality 28 www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta Seed Smart A new program provides Alberta growers with a better understanding of the benefits of seed testing. SEED quality is an integral part of growing a successful crop, but it often doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Alberta Seed Processors (ASP), the association representing the province’s co-op seed cleaning plants, have introduced a program it’s hoping will help change that. “Farmers are investing tons of resources into precision farming, but sometimes seed health is overlooked. We want to bring seed health into the conversation,” says Monica Klaas, ASP general manager. ASP has partnered with three seed labs in Alberta – BioVision, 20/20 and Seed Check Technologies – for an initiative called Seed Smart. It’s aimed at educating farmers about the importance of knowing seed quality as a crop management tool. The program was launched last summer and kicked off with an ad promoting the benefits of seed testing that ran for two weeks during a popular radio farm program in September. Next up is distributing Seed Smart posters to seed cleaning facilities to remind growers they can bring in seed samples for testing and to reinforce how important seed health is. According to Klaas, Seed Smart was developed as a proactive strategy. Currently, cereal crops are tested for Fusarium in Alberta, as required by the province’s Agricultural Pests Act, and many grow- ers routinely add a germination assessment when they send their seed in for testing. Some in the industry are concerned that seed testing may go by the wayside if there’s a change to the legislation. “We have been told through the Alberta Fusarium Action Com- mittee that the government is going to be opening up the Pest Act for consultation, and with that consultation there could be a change,” says Klaas. “However, to be clear, the existing Pest Act is still in force, and changes are subject to a thorough and lengthy process, including stakeholder engagement.” Should benchmark seed infection levels be removed from the Pest Act, she adds, it could be the same effect when other key pieces of legislation affecting agricultural practices were amended or withdrawn – namely, fewer people following the practice afterwards because they didn’t fully understand all of the direct and indirect benefits. “Our board thought by starting now, as a proactive meas- ure, we could get growers to have a deeper understanding of seed testing technology, and instill the practice as part of best management practices of all acres,” says Klaas. “Further, we are trying to promote more advanced testing measures such as vigour and disease screening.” Benefits of Broader Testing Sarah Foster, senior seed analyst and president of 20/20 Seed Labs, says broader testing provides a lot of good information about a seed lot or field. “Germination is only one small part. Scientifically speaking, the germination test is conducted under optimum conditions. Evalu- ating seedlings in a germination test is far less stringent than the evaluation conducted for a vigour test,” she says. “In simple terms a germination test is best described as the seeds’ ability to perform under a wide range of field conditions, and the vigour test is best described as seeds’ ability to perform under stressful conditions,” Foster adds. “The disease test is very important too. Laboratories today can provide a plethora of disease screens that hone in on diseases of economic importance. The disease diagnosis can be the foundation on which to decide if the seed is worthy of planting or treating.” Klaas says a key aspect of disease testing is that it enables growers to target specific pathogens that can rob them of yield Seed analyst Morgan Saumer at work at Seed Check Technologies. Photo courtesy of Seed Check Technologies