While the weather has been cool and wet for much of the spring, the calendar indicates that we’re just a few weeks away from the start of the grass seed crop harvest season. Seed moisture content is the most reliable indicator of seed maturity and harvest timing in grass seed crops. Harvesting within the correct range of seed moisture contents will maximize harvestable seed yield and minimize losses of seed during harvest.

A recent publication by OSU’s Tom Silberstein and others (EM9012) updates the traditional seed moisture content guidelines for grass seed crops and provides illustrated instructions on conducting a seed moisture test.

Here’s the publication in a pdf format: Using Seed Moisture as a Harvest Management Tool

Silberstein and OSU’s Nicole Anderson have developed a video showing step by step instructions on collecting seed and several methods to test the moisture content of seed.

Here’s a link to the video version:  Seed Moisture Video