Welcometo the IASG Website
The IASG started out holding its 1st annual conference in 1965 with a handful of its founding members. Everyone met in Mulwala at a Hotel, before proceeding to Mulwala foreshore to conduct the first meeting.
Held on a Sunday afternoon, with a view to forming a single associate body, which would have a voice and that could exchange information on a common level, for example: Seed Grading.
This lead from a one-day conference to where we are today. We now hold annual conferences all over
Australia to share ideas and experiences about seed grading. It has grown into a membership of approx
70 members from all states of Australia.
Click Here to Read More
Test seed for viability
GROWERS with weather-damaged grain kept for seed are being urged to test its ability to germinate. And farmers should not despair if their grain has already sprouted.
Grains Research and Development Corporation southern panel member and grain industry consultant Allan Mayfield said mildly sprouted grain could still be sound enough to use as seed for next season's crop, but it largely depended on how well it was stored until sowing time.
Dr Mayfield said weather-damaged grain was more susceptible to poor germination, low vigour and degradation during storage and handling.
He said the moisture content and silo temperature were the key factors in ensuring the grain's viability as seed.
"There's a big difference if you are storing grain when the temperature is 20C rather than 30C and there is a big difference at 12 per cent moisture and 14 per cent moisture," he said.
"Grain harvested on a hot day stays hot. The only way to get the temperature down is to have aeration equipment (on silos)."
Dr Mayfield said farmers should test the viability of their seed soon after harvest, through a simple germination test on moist cotton wool on a dish.
"It doesn't have to go off to a seed lab (laboratory)," he said.
"But the best test is to put it into soil.
"You need to count out 100 seeds, plant them in 1cm of soil and count what comes up.
"If there is some doubt about the grain, there is time to get other seed."
Dr Mayfield said if the seed was sound, it was important to keep monitoring it while in storage, to ensure its viability.
He said a second test should be carried out just prior to sowing.
Some farmers are already planning to test their seed.
Wycheproof grain grower David Pollard said most of the wheat he harvested with his brother, Gary, was downgraded to feed quality after rain last month, but some made the Australian General Purpose grade.
"We have got to test it (AGP wheat) to see if it is good enough for seed next year," Mr Pollard said.
"Otherwise we will have to buy in seed."
Dr Mayfield said all grain crops were susceptible to deterioration in seed quality during wet harvests.
"Mild symptoms can be a loose and wrinkled seed coat in some pulses, while more advanced symptoms can be seed staining, fungal mould and visible signs of germination," he said. "It is essential to recognise whether the damage is cosmetic or the symptom of a seed- borne disease and if it will impact on germination."
Dr Mayfield said sprouted wheat could be used as seed.
"If wheat seed started sprouting and had a low falling number (test), it should still be OK, as long as it did not have long, heavy shoots," he said.
"If it has produced shoots out of the seed, it has used up a lot of energy getting that shoot out, so it could have poor vigour."
PETER HEMPHILL PETER HEMPHILL. "Test seed for viability." Weekly Times (Victoria, Australia). 19 Jan. 2011: 76. eLibrary. Web. 25 Jan. 2011.
Retaining Seed Fact Sheet (GRDC)Clean seed part of the herbicide-resistance strategy
By Nicole BaxterSenior weeds researcher Mechelle Owen is encouraging care when selecting grain to harvest for use as seed for 2011 crops.
Ms Owen, who works at the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (AHRI) at the University of Western Australia, says many growers might be unknowingly harvesting herbicide-resistant weed seed and sowing it back into cropping paddocks.
To quantify the extent of weed seed contamination in seed used for sowing, Ms Owen conducted a survey asking WA growers about their seed-cleaning methods and the source of their crop seed. Seventy-eight growers provided 183 grain samples (about 10 kilograms) for analysis. Half were wheat and half were barley, lupins, pea, canola or oats.
Samples were cleaned by hand and weed seed contamination was calculated.
Weed seeds were then screened for herbicide resistance to common herbicides.
The survey showed nearly all growers (95 per cent) grow their own grain for crop seed, with only five per cent buying seed off-farm. Despite this, most growers used contractors (70 per cent) to clean their seed.
Seventy-four per cent of samples were contaminated with weeds, despite 97 per cent of growers stating it had been cleaned.
Contamination was variable between samples, with about 6.2 weed seeds per kilogram of crop seed. The main contaminant was annual ryegrass (2.8 seeds/kg), which occurred in more than half the samples, followed by wild radish (1.4 seeds/kg), brome grass and wild oats (less than one seed/kg) found in about one-third of samples.
Annual ryegrass was tested for resistance to Group A and B herbicides.
Most populations were resistant to Group A diclofop-methyl (84 per cent) and Group B sulfometuron (91 per cent) herbicides.
Wild radish was resistant to the Group B herbicide chlorsulfuron.
Wild oat was resistant to the Group A herbicide diclofop-methyl. However, no resistance was found in brome grass to any Group A herbicides tested.
Most resistant wild radish populations came from northern areas, while ryegrass resistance was widespread across the state.
All ryegrass populations resistant to in-crop herbicides were controlled with glyphosate.
Ms Owen says scrupulous cleaning does help lower the weed seed contamination in seed grain and can reduce the weed burden on-farm.
"Seed saved for use as next year’s crop should be harvested from low-weed-burden paddocks as seed grading is unlikely to remove all weed seeds," she says.
"While a high proportion of samples were contaminated, 25 per cent were weed-free, indicating it is possible to achieve clean crop seed."
Successful OH&S Meeting
The Independent Associated Seed Graders place a high priority on the work safety of its members and their farmer clients.
As part of an ongoing program a highly successful OH & S Day was organised by the Association at Sea Lake on October 12th. Thirty one mobile seed grading businesses were represented from VIC, SA & NSW.
Industry OH & S Consultants Michael Robinson and Don Harkins conducted workshops on hazard identification and safe operating systems. A display of mobile seed grading plants at Sea Lake enabled the presenters to demonstrate and give examples of best practice.
Cairns 2009 IASG Conference
Once again a very successful conference was held, with thanks going to Evan and Kerry Wittwer for their organization. Day 1 started with the normal registration and opening, with a short address from the Cairns Hospital, which was the selected charity. This was followed by our AGM then continued on with the general meeting which concluded on the last day. Several chemical companies and industry people spoke throughout the four days. We also had an interesting trip on the Kuranda Sky Rail above the rain forest canopy we then wondered around the markets with a trip back to Cairns on the Train with lots of photo’s being taken; which should hopefully be available for members to view through the web page.
An interesting evening was held on the last night with the charity auction taking place, with an Hawaiian theme. This started with a BBQ dinner followed by Tropical Charlie supplying some of the entertainment. Followed by the charity auction with Chris Gay from O’Connor & Gay real estate being our auctioneer for the evening. Chris put a real spin on some of the articles being auctioned, everyone got into the spirit of things. The evening concluded with a cheque for $7,000.00 being given to the Cairns Hospital children's section which will be spent on TV's, DVD's and things that aren't funded by the government. This conference really showed why people join the association for the knowledge that they obtain and friends that they make. Anybody wishing to become a member can contact the IASG.