Coated celery seed aids mechanization efforts

Six to seven thousand acres of direct-seeded celery are grown each year in the central coastal districts of California. Thinning celery requires approximately 50 man-hours per acre—roughly 40% of the labor necessary to produce a crop. Increasing labor costs and uncertainties concerning quality and supply of labor have prompted growers to look for methods to reduce the time required for thinning. Coated seed appears to possess many attributes which warrant evaluation in mechanized celery production.