Barley seed survey shows quality problems

Only 20% of the barley seed lots sampled in a two-year, 17-county survey—as reported in this study—met standards required of California certified barley seed. Fifty-four per cent of the samples contained excessive weed seed and 12% contained secondary noxious weeds. Forty per cent of the samples also contained an average of 72 seeds of other crops per pound of barley seed. Twenty-six per cent of the samples germinated less than 90%. Forty-nine per cent of the samples averaged 7.1% trashy, inert material and 43% were found to contain varietal mixtures.