Ultra Early Spring Planting.
Drought. Heat blast. Economy. Uncertain political landscape.
There’s never been a more important time to know what you’re putting into the ground –
than the 2025 growing season.
And there’s never been a more important time to test for vigour and here’s why:
Get In Early, Beat the Heat:
Most vigour tests in Canada are designed to emulate cool soil temperatures in the early spring. 20/20 Seeds Labs offers a cold temperature vigour test that’s been proven to predict emergence under these conditions. For many producers, the ability to get seed into the ground early can make all the difference in early July when the heat hits.
Last year, a heat blast in the first weeks of July in many regions hastened maturity and reduced kernel size. Gaining another few weeks of maturity before heat blast can make a significant difference on the yield. Know what you can get by going in early, By testing vigour with a cold method you can help mitigate heat blast effects and improve your crop quality.
Know What, Where and When to Plant:
A vigour test will help you to better plan which fields will perform the best with your seed. It can also help you to time the planting of your crops to coincide with field performance. An average performing vigour crop might be best to wait until soils warm up before planting, prioritizing the high performing crops for those early spring plantings.
Regionally, this may make a difference as well. Cooler soils in the north can be planted with the highest performers to get that seed out of the ground the quickest.
Know What to Keep and What to Use:
Vigour is not only a predictor of field emergence, but also a predictor of the longevity of the seed. Seed lots which are showing wide spreads between the germination and vigour values may be riskier to carry over. Vigour testing is a much more sensitive quality index then germination and will always drop before germination. This is a good predictor that, although the quality may still be good for planting, it’s best to use medium vigour lots quickly and into less stressful conditions.
If you are deciding to carry over, the seed lots with the strongest vigour will carry over the best in good storage
Get the Most out of What You Have:
Synchronous germination leads to even and quick emergence. Get out before the disease threatens the seed and outcompete weeds by early establishment.
Understanding how to use your quality tests to make management decision on the farm is an important tool. 20/20 Seed Labs can help you make the best use of your tests and on farm decisions this spring.
Test now, know what you have, get the most out of your seed this spring with 20/20 Seed Labs Inc.
For more information, call the lab at 1(877)420-2099
Carey Mathiessen, Director of Operations 20/20 Seed Labs Inc.
