By Darren Hefty

A select group of the top seed cleaning/conditioning facilities across the country have employed new machines commonly known as color sorters, but the newest models not only sort for color, THEY ALSO SORT FOR SHAPE!  Here’s a short list of why you may want to demand your soybean seed runs through such a machine before you accept it for planting.

FACTS ABOUT THE LATEST COLOR & SHAPE SORTER MACHINES

  • Seed Quality – They individually scan each soybean seed and use tiny shots of air to kick out any beans that are off-color or misshapen.
  • Seed Purity – The electronic eyes are sensitive enough to pick dark hilum seeds out of a clear hilum seed lot.
  • Seed Germination – They are excellent at removing splits (including seed that has a compromised seed coat and is about to split) and green beans that have made it past the primary seed cleaning equipment.
  • Seed Consistency – The newest software and equipment available can sort seed not only by color and shape but also by SIZE.  This allows the machines to better pick out splits, shriveled seed, and volunteer corn.
  • Seed Plantability – The size sorter also produces a little more uniform seed size.  Last year there were many plantability issues in the seed industry because of the wide variance in seed size within a single seed lot.

There have been many improvements in color sorters over the last few years.  Of course, even the best machines can only work with the seed that’s brought to them.  If the seed was less than 10% moisture coming out of the field, there will still be some challenges with seed quality.  The whole process of producing good seed begins with all the practices that seed growers use during the growing season, right up to how the combine is set to harvest the seed and how the seed gets handled on the way to the conditioning plant.

Using a color & shape sorter at the end of the conditioning process is another step toward improved seed quality for you to plant.  If you’re interested in visiting a seed plant that uses a sorter, give us a call.  We’d be glad to show you one of the machines in action in Pembina, ND; Baltic, SD; Centerville, SD; and coming soon in LeRoy, MN.