Seed question (dumb question)

[lildorris00]

Hypothetically, if you were wanting to put out 50 lbs of seed per acre and you buy a 50 lb bag of the seed, in that bag (because of fillers & etc) you may only get 25lbs of actual seed based on what the bag tells you. Does that mean when a plot mix recommends 50lbs per acre that I need to actually buy 100 lbs of seed to actually get 50 lbs of "seed" per acre in the plot?

 

[Semi-Pro]

Not a stupid question. I don't have the answer

 

[Canuck5]

https://www.purdue.edu/fnr/extension/pure-live-seed/

I will answer it this way ....... If you want to follow a "plan" like these below, then you have to calculate how much PLS, pure live seed is in the bag that you bought. The people who put these charts together, don't know how much inert material is in the bag nor the germination rate.




Then you need to make estimates, if you are broadcasting, you need to increase the seeding rate as well. I let my budget decide most of these answers, LOL.



And each type of seed has different number of seeds per pound. Today, a farmer, when he buys his seed, he will know how many "seeds" are in a unit (like bushels in the past) and will tell people, "yes, I am planting 1.9MM seeds per acre today", or whatever that number is. Seed size changes from year to year and variety to variety, or so I am told.

 

[Canuck5]

and it's not a dumb question ..... just a confusing one, LOL

 

[doomtrpr_z71]

Yes, if you buy something like clover that's coated you need to buy 2 bags to get the required amount of seed if there's 50% inert material.

 

[Canuck5]

And just throwing things out there ....... you don't have to plant your plots in the same thing. Triple C has planted a perimeter of perennial clover around one of his larger plots and the center got planted in "something annual".

Since I have about 1.5% of our properties in food plots, I want to maximize tonnage, in the food plots I have, but I have done things a little different, at points in the past.

 

[Ihunt]

The short answer is yes but if you’re like most of us you’ll be putting down too much seed anyway

 

[Long Cut]

Nope, great question.

To calculate PLS, the percentage of pure seed listed on the seed label of a cultivar is multiplied by the percent germination (also listed on the seed label), and the product is divided by 100. For example, 92% pure seed of the cultivar x 80% germination / 100 = 74% PLS. To determine how much seed to plant, divide 100 by the percentage PLS (74% in this case). Thus, in this example, 100/74 = 1.4. Thus, 1.4 pounds of seed with a purity of 92% and a germination of 80% would be needed for each pound specified in the desired seed mixture.

You also need to calibrate your spreader setting and speed to get the right rate of seeds spread.

With seed, diesel and fertilizer prices the way they are... A little math will save a lot of money.

 

[treemanjohn]

Umm what seed are you talking about?