During vine seed harvest, left, the fruit is ground as seeds are separated and preserved. The leftover pulp, above, is dumped in the field and eventually incorporated back into the soil. Seed acreage has declined amid reduced production demand.
Seed Continued from Page 1
the European Union and especially in the Middle East and Africa,” he said. “Because of the difficulties in the area, the demand isn’t very big.” In addition, high interest rates may play a role as seed companies that don’t want to be stuck with large inventories
cut production, Knight said. “In the seed business, you don’t re- ally know,” he said. “Everyone’s cur- rently holding pretty tight and playing it very conservatively.” (Vicky Boyd is a reporter in Modesto. She may be contacted at vlboyd@att.net.)
of many companies growing vine seeds to meet the needs of customers during this period,” he wrote. “Conversely, last year saw environmental conditions that led to exceptional yields. “This led to higher inventories and re- duced the need for production in 2024,” he added. “Bayer sees this reduction of acres as temporary and as we ramp up to meet customer and market needs for 2025 and beyond.” Jace Knight, a co-owner of Dixon Seed in Glenn, attributed the reduced vine seed acreage to a complex set of factors. Even Syngenta pulling out of hybrid sunflower seed production and closing its Hamilton City processing facility indirectly affected growers looking for high-value crops such as vine seed to fill the void. “(Syngenta) pulled out so late, it became everyone just scrambling around for any- thing,” Knight said. “Everyone just started asking for contracts.” Even as a small- to mid-scale produc- er of open-pollinated cucurbits and hy- brid watermelons, he said he faced the daunting task of forecasting supply and demand. Unlike some of the major com- modities traded on the Chicago Board of Trade, vine seeds are a niche crop and ar- en’t traded publicly. And the few large companies that dom- inate vine seed production keep produc- tion and marketing information close to their chests. In his own case, Knight said yields in 2023 were 127% of normal, with squash even higher at 137% of normal. As such, he cut production about 15% to 20% this year. Vine seed sales also are global, so the value of the U.S. dollar or political up- heaval elsewhere may affect demand and potential contracted acreage in California. Knight pointed to the unrest in the Middle East as an example. “It’s a big squash area, producing for
crops to replace the losses in the farm’s rotation. He has received a contract for a small amount of chickpea seed produc- tion, which is a new crop for the farm. The voids he can’t fill with other crops will be planted to mainly corn with some milo. Colusa County Agricultural Com- missioner Anastacia Allen said she has seen the fallout from reduced vine seed contracts. “You’re seeing a lot of corn being plant- ed,” she said. “We know corn is just what you plant when you have nothing else to plant.” The fewer acres of vine seed production also has translated into fewer inspections for her office. Seed growers must apply to agricultural commissioner offices for field inspections during the growing season to check for potential seed-borne diseases. The resulting phytosanitary certificates, as the inspection reports are called, are re- quired by many importing countries. Normally by this time of year, Allen’s of- fice would have begun to receive requests to have vine seed fields inspected. So far, she said, it hasn’t received any. “We should have some by now typical- ly,” Allen said. “We’re still keeping our fin- gers crossed.” The same thing happened with pro- duction of winter seed crops, notably onions and coriander, in Colusa County. Normally, she said the office would re- ceive inspection requests beginning in October and November. This winter, it received none. Michael Willey, North America veg- etable seeds production lead at Bayer, attributed the reduced vine seed con- tracts this year to overproduction in 2023. Bayer markets under the Seminis and De Ruiter brands. “The Sacramento Valley went through an unprecedented three-year drought from 2020-2022, resulting in challenges
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June 19, 2024 Ag Alert 15
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