The hum of the combine breaks just after sunrise.
Dust hangs in the air, bins stand waiting, and every minute feels borrowed against the threat of weather rolling in. For a few hours everything seems perfect, until the first auger load rattles into the bin.
That’s when you notice it: tiny cracks in seed coats, splits piling up, and brittle peas breaking apart.
What looks like a clean harvest on the surface is quietly telling another story.
By spring, those hidden fractures will reveal themselves in poor germination, weak stands, and reduced yield. Last fall, over 50% of pulse samples tested showed mechanical damage. The culprit? Hot, dry conditions that left seeds fragile, and in peas especially the damage can be striking.
Mechanical damage isn’t just a cosmetic issue. Every crack chips away at germination, grade and ultimately profitability. The good news: it’s also one of the most preventable harvest losses if you know what to watch for and act early. Older varieties with thicker seed coats tend to withstand stress betterm but with newer genetics and tighter testing windows, the margin for error shrinks.
Protecting quality takes intention.
Over 50% of pulse samples tested for germination showed mechanical damage last fall and winter, underscoring how common this quality issue is in the field. Damaged seeds often fail to develop into healthy plants compromising stand establishment and yield potential. Field peas were the most affected, hot dry harvest conditions at low moisture levels increase the risk of splits and cracks. Older varieties with thicker tighter seed coats appear to withstand mechanical stress better.
Three Strategies to Protect Your Pulses
Optimize Your Equipment:
- Regularly inspect harvest and handling equipment, combines, augers, and sweeps for wear and damage on components like flighting, fans, and concaves.
- Ensure settings are gentle on seeds, undetected damage can accumulate quickly and erode quality.
Train Your Team:
- Educate operators on proper techniques, fill augers carefully, maintain correct PTO speeds and avoid aggressive handling.
- Load augers to minimize seed movement, lower them to allow seeds to slide gently, and avoid impacts with cross bars.
Handle Storage Thoughtfully:
- Reduce movement wherever possible, less handling means fewer opportunities for damage.
- Use equipment suited for the crop type and handle brittle seeds with extra care.
Additional winter-season precautions include using slower auger speeds and moving pulses during warmer ambient temperatures to reduce stress and damage. Emerging solutions such as seed treatments or coatings may also help soften the seed coat and reduce planting damage.
Looking Ahead: Testing as Your Safety Net
Even with the best practices, invisible damage can slip through. That’s why post-harvest and pre-plant testing are critical checkpoints.
Testing for:
- Germination potential.
- Vigour under stress (cool, spring planting)
- Thousand-kernel weight (TKW)
- Disease and purity metrics.
… gives you the confidence to market, store, or plant seed with full knowledge of it’s potential.
Mechanical damage in pulses is widespread but largely preventable. By taking simple proactive steps in equipment care, team training, and storage handling can preserve seed quality. Testing provides peace of mind and vital data to making informed planting decisions.
Through collaborative efforts growers, operators and testing labs we can ensure pulses maintain their value through harvest and into the field. As harvest wraps up, it’s worth taking a closer look at how your seed lots have held up.
Harvest will always come with pressure, but protecting your pulses doesn’t have to mean leaving quality to chance. By combining smart equipment management, well-trained teams, thoughtful storage, and comprehensive testing, you can safeguard value from bin to planting.
At 20/20 Seed Labs, our accredited analysts work alongside growers to interpret lab results and build confidence in every seed lot. With testing packages tailored to pulses, from germination to vigour, to full quality assessments, you’ll never stop growing backed by data and not guesswork.
Discover the right testing package for your operation: www.2020seedlabs.ca/services/testing-services Our analysts are taking calls to answer any questions you may have 1-877-420-2099
