SEED GROWERS

Seed yield can be roughly defined as the seed in weight harvested from a seed crop that both represents the diversity of a specific seed variety and the average seed yield of that seed crop. Because of lack of publicly available data, seed yield is one of the most confusing parameters for beginner level seed growers. However, it is also very critical to estimate seed yields before growing a seed crop for a seed catalog so that how much income can be made from that crop can be estimated prior to the growing season. Needless to say, seed yield also gives valuable insight for how big of a crop (i.e. number of seedlings to transplant) to grow and how much space to be utilized for the crop.

Growing methods we use greatly affect seed yields. Seed crops overwhelmed by weeds, poor soil fertility, overhead watering, excessive watering and pests are some of the factors that reduce yields. I recommend you to start your seedlings as early as possible in the greenhouse and transplant them after the last frost in your growing zone to get better seed yields than direct-seeded crops. Direct-seeded plants will also oftentimes bolt earlier than transplanted plants. Also, I observed many times that varieties planted in smaller populations and tended closely produced better seed yields than those planted in large quantities.

I will provide a list of estimated seed yields for major vegetable crops we and other seed growers grow for our seed company's catalog. Many thanks to Brian Campbell of Uprising Seeds (WA), Hank Keogh of Avoca Seed (OR), Chris Smith of The Utopian Seed Project (NC), and a WV grower who wanted to stay anonymous for providing the data for the crops they grew for us. The list is only intended to help you with your growing plans and to give you a rough idea about seed yields as they will not only vary depending on the season and the growing conditions mentioned above but they will also vary from one variety of a given crop to another (i.e. seed yield of a paste tomato will be different than that of a fresh-eating tomato). Certain values in the list were averaged and extrapolated from large-scale observations to give insight about potential small-scale yields.

IMPORTANT: Certified growers are already obliged to record certain data with regards to their harvest. Regardless you are a certified grower or not, it would be very beneficial to take detailed notes of how much of a crop you grow for each variety each year (i.e. how many plants or how long of a row) and how much seeds you harvest at the end of the season. Such information will greatly help you to improve your practice and plan for seed production assignments more accurately and for the seed company to be accurate when they prepare seed contracts for growers. As a result, we can come up with a cumulative list of seed yields for commonly known commercial varieties and culturally significant seed varieties.

I will update the lists as we collect more data from growers and our seed crops on our farm in West Virginia.
The list given below is a composite of Small-scale Organic Seed Production, prepared by Patrick Steiner and Knott’s Handbook for Vegetable Growers, written by Donal N. Maynard and George J. Hochmuth. Unfortunately year and location data aren't provided in this list. Please note that the yield data in this list was extrapolated by me to 100 ft of seed crops, and these values will inevitably include an estimation error.