Air June 30, 2004

Thank you Gary, and good morning everyone.

More rain over the weekend was enough to help keep soil profile filled, but not cause many problems except for those trying to finish harvest. A question has come up several times the past week or two regarding why wheat test weight falls when we get rain before harvest. Interestingly, kernel weight doesn't change that much with these rains unless you have an extreme situation like we did in 1993. What happens, very simply, is that the wetting and drying of the kernel and its seed coat causes the seed coat to become rougher and the kernels don't pack as tightly together in the bushel basket or other measurement container. Yield losses are from shattering or lodging not necessarily from loss of kernel weight.

I want to follow up with a little lecture on seed wheat. Specifically, farmer to farmer sales of seed wheat or what we sometimes call brown bag sales. In a nutshell, they are illegal. Period. Kansas law states that any agricultural seed must be labeled and tested. It must be labeled to variety and if the variety is protected by the plant variety protection act, and virtually all current varieties are, then you must have a signed agreement with the owner of that Plant variety protection certificate. Many producers over the years have saved seed back for their own use and unless you have a specific agreement stating otherwise, you can still do that. But the minute you start selling or trading with another producer you have crossed the line. Not only can the seller be subject to fines and civil action, the buyer can get dragged into this mess too. In the past, we haven't heard too much about companies going after Kansas farmers, but that may change very soon. Their have been cases in the midwest concerning soybean seed with settlements in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. I don't think any producer can afford that kind of lawsuit! But the word is out that private seed companies are going to start actively pursuing those who are illegally selling seed wheat. And why not? Each variety represents ten years of work and well over a million dollars of investment. Let's all avoid future troubles! If you want to sell seed wheat, do it right. If you are buying seed wheat, make sure that you purchase it from a registered dealer.

This is Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent, with Ag Outlook 2004.

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