By LON TONNESON
Mike Gartner, Gartner Seed Farm, Mandan, N.D., has five seed buying tips:
• Buy certified seed. It pays.
• Buy the right variety for your farm. Varieties are site-specific. “If someone calls and asks me which variety is doing best on my farm, I tell them it doesn’t matter. How does it do on your farm and your neighbors’ farms?” Check local trials in your area.
• Buy legal seed. You have to have a label to protect yourself from allegations that you have purchased brown-bagged seed.
• Be aware of the genetic background of the seed you are buying. Brand A and brand B from different companies might actually be the same variety.
• Never plant a new variety on the whole farm. It takes about three years of commercial production to understand how a new variety performs under many different conditions.
This article published in the November, 2011 edition of DAKOTA FARMER.
All rights reserved. Copyright Farm Progress Cos. 2011.