Germination of 20-year-old wheat, oats, barley, corn, rye, sorghum, and soybeans

Robertson, D.W.; Lute, A.M.; Kroeger, H.

Germination of 20-year-old wheat, oats, barley, corn, rye, sorghum, and soybeans

1943

Robertson, D.W. | Lute, A.M. | Kroeger, H.

Germination studies are reported on various farm crops stored for varying periods from 1 to 22 years. The crops were stored in sacks in a dry, unheated room. The germination percentage of wheat, oats, and barley declined slowly for the first 10-year period. From the tenth to the fifteenth year wheat dropped 22.3%, oats 8.1%, and barley 7.7%. The drop was somewhat greater from the fifteenth to the twentieth year as follows: Wheat, 48.4%; oats, 24.4%; and barley, 39.5%. Twenty-one-year-old wheat germinated 12.8%, oats 49.6%, and barley 46.2% of the initial germination. There were indications of varietal differences in germination between six-rowed hulled and two-rowed hulled and naked barley. Rosen rye and Wisconsin Black soybeans did not maintain their viability after the first 5 years. They dropped to almost zero germination by the fifteenth year. Black Amber cane maintained its germination for a 17-year period. Yellow Dent corn gradually declined from the first to the twenty-first year, germinating 32% at the end of the period. A dry, arid climate preserves germination in the farm crops studied so that stocks of wheat, oats, barley, sorghum, and corn can be stored for 20 years and still have enough viable seeds to maintain the stocks.

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