Source: NCSU COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, 3/3/20


By now, most folks are aware of the seed quality issues that occurred during 2019, when a few lot numbers of a couple of varieties were planted in relatively good planting conditions, and poor stands resulted. This issue was magnified by dry weather later in the planting window and the use of some residual herbicides in no-till situations that prevented replanting before the end of our planting window. Further investigation into this issue revealed that seed quality was questionable for those affected lot numbers. The 2019 issue was largely handled by the seed company involved working directly with the growers that were affected. However, subsequent additional investigations into previous years’ seed quality revealed an alarming trend with both warm and cool germination values of primarily random samples collected of varieties from several different seed companies. Dating back to 2012, there have been several instances of questionable to very poor seed quality (both warm and cool germ), involving multiple cotton seed brands and varieties, although there was a clear downward trend in seed quality especially over the last three years.

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