Sprouting seeds and black crops

By Matt Reese

First extremely dry, then wet conditions leading up to harvest have not been a good situation for crop quality. Some of the worst of these conditions have been in southern Ohio from September into early October when fields went from green, to brown to black. Soybeans got extremely dry, then re-wetted by the heavy rains, which resulted in sprouting in some areas.

“It’s pretty widespread in Madison, Pickaway, Fairfield, Fayette, and Ross counties. We seem to be the tip of spear on this one and I think it really has to do with the fact that in this area we were under the severe drought stress from the very beginning. Those areas with the sprouting are definitely a result of that severe stress on soybean plant,” said Mike Estadt, Ohio State University Extension educator in Pickaway County. “We haven’t really been able to determine what our buyers are discounting, but the sprouting in terms of dockage is going to add foreign matter in the sample and it does damage that seed coat, so that’s going to be open to other pathogens also and it does decrease the quality of the beans.… Continue reading