Australian Growers Told to Test Durum Seed

SYDNEY - Apr 4/05 - SNS -- Durum growers in Australia are being advised to test seed now to avoid admixture problems next harvest.

In 2004-05 around one third of the durum delivered to ABB Grain Ltd sites had bread wheat and/or barley contamination above Durum 1 or 2 quality standards.

To try and reduce this figure and ensure fewer problems for the 2005-06 harvest, the barley board's grain quality laboratory will again provide an analysis service for bread wheat and barley contamination in seed samples, as was available to growers last year.

The tolerances for Durum 1 and 2 grades are - maximum Bread Wheat (% by count) is 3% and maximum Barley seeds allowed (count per ½ litre) is 50.

Growers who bring in grain with admixtures above these limits not only risk financial losses through the downgrading or rejection of their grain but also threaten sales of durum to premium markets should excessive off-types slip into export cargoes.

The cost of the seed test will be A$15 for both samples or a single test for $10 (ex GST), which will simply cover the cost of our staff time.

Australian growers can download durum sample requests from the ezigrain website (www.ezigrain.com.au) and drop their 1kg seed samples off for testing at their nearest strategic site or business centre.