Preparations for spring are in full swing. We are in the process of cleaning seed. This is the removal of any debris or low quality, infested or infected seeds and seeds of different species (weeds) that we don’t want to be planting.

Seed cleaning is done with a series of “grates” or “sieves” that have different sized holes in them depending on what seed you are cleaning (e.g. wheat, durum, peas, etc.) and what you want to remove (e.g. chaff, wild oats, kocha, etc.). This separates the seed you want to plant from everything else. Cleaning seed can help optimize production with a more consistent germination and field stand.

Cleaning seeds is a common practices for open pollinated/unpatented seeds. Sometimes called ‘bin seed’ as producers clean the best of last years harvest to seed the next year. But we also recognize the value of research that has developed new varieties with higher yields that are patented. These patents require that 100% of the crop harvested be accounted for. This is the only way for the companies who have invested in this research to see a return on investment.