Seed Processing

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Seed corn delivery to the Dahlman production plant near Dassel, MN.

Seed corn  is unloaded onto a holding platform with a ‘walking floor’ system that moves the ears to a belt conveyor. Dahlman seed is never handled by metal augers.

Seed corn is handled gently by belt conveyors with gradual inclines. Conveyors running outside are covered for weather protection.

After moving through the husking beds, ears are visually inspected so off-types and culls can be removed by hand.

Storage and drying bins at the Dahlman production plant.

In the drying bins, huge fans move warm air from the bottom up for 12 hours, then the process is reversed and air moves from the top down.  This process eliminates ‘hot spots’ that may damage the germ of seed corn.

Overview of Dahlman’s modern reverse flow drying bins.

Dahlman’s conditioning  plant and warehouse near Dassel, MN. Seed arriving at the conditioning  plant goes through a cleaner  that uses bursts of air to clean the seed before it moves to the sizing equipment.

Dahlman’s conditioning plant handles seed slowly and gently, with low, short runs and no drops.  Vibrating conveyors and lifts with polyurethane cups ensure gentle handling throughout the system.     A computer- controlled gravity table sorts seed by specific density and removes lighter kernels or cracked kernels that may not germinate.  For many companies this is their final step in seed quality control during conditioning, but Dahlman takes its quality screening a step further by using a color sorter. The sizing system is computer controlled and designed to handle seed gently and efficiently, with slow movement and short drops.

Dahlman’s  sizing equipment uses slowly vibrating reciprocating flat sieves to ‘soft size’ all of the seed going to farmer customers.  Some companies use rotating drums that can cause microscopic cracks that may reduce germination and cause weak seedlings.   Dahlman’s Scan Master II Color Sorter uses several infrared cameras to inspect both sides of kernels as they pass through, removing kernels that have defects smaller than .3mm. Individual air bursts remove the rejected seed and allow the accepted seed to pass on to treating.  The color  sorter usually removes about 1-3% of the seed that was passed by the gravity table.   These ‘rejects’ are removed completely from the system and discarded.   Farmers who plant Dahlman Seed are getting the best-conditioned, highest quality seed possible.

Dahlman’s color sorter rejects about 1-3% of seed (bottom pile) that had been cleaned and then sorted by the gravity table.  This results in superb quality seed going to the treater (second from right) and then into Dahlman seed bags for delivery to customers (far right). You can count on clean, pure, well-conditioned  seed in every Dahlman bag.

Bagged seed is palleted, stacked and stored for delivery in Dahlman’s insulated  warehouse.

The Dahlman Seeds Quality Promise

Producing quality products is the goal of everyone at Dahlman Seed Company.   When you buy our seed, you can be assured that every bag has been produced according to this business philosophy:  

Throughout all stages of production,  processing and conditioning, our goal is to make sure that pure, premium quality seed goes into every bag and reaches every customer.  Our equipment is state of the art and our facilities are clean.  This is the strength of our company and why we’re known for our Premium Quality Seed.

Quality Assurance Provides Germination and Genetic Purity

Careful attention to detail at all stages of seed corn production assures you of quality in every bag of Dahlman Hybrid Seed.  Unlike many companies, we plant and manage all of our production fields.  We harvest our own seed crop with our own equipment and process it in our own facilities.

Dahlman’s biggest QUALITY ADVANTAGE occurs at its conditioning plant, built in 2004.  “Our seed is handled slowly, gently, and by people who know the importance of quality,” says Production Manager Daryl Dahlman. 

The facility has ‘state-of-the-art’ equipment, including an infrared color sorter that provides an extra measure of selection and grading during the conditioning process. Daryl says “We’ve found that the color sorter removes about 1-3% additional seed that may have questionable germination following conventional grading and sorting on the gravity tables.  This is seed that is lighter, may have microscopic cracks, or is slightly  discolored compared to healthy seed. The color sorter removes this impure seed, and the resulting product that moves to the treating facility is cleaner, more uniform and has a germination rate that is 1-3% higher.” 

The customer, of course, is the winner in this process, because better quality seed in the bag means better quality seed going into the ground, with the potential for more plants germinating and producing a healthy ear.

Here are other quality steps that Dahlman Seed Company uses to assure
germination and genetic purity: 

• After bagging, a sample of every lot of every seed size from every hybrid is taken for quality control and genetic purity testing.  
  
  
• A warm germ test verifies the percentage of bagged seed that will
  germinate under ideal field growing conditions. 
  
  
• Cold germ and super cold germ testing verify seedling vigor and the percentage of seed that will grow under cool and wet spring planting conditions. 
  
  
• Bioassays confirm trait purity for Roundup Ready® herbicide-tolerant hybrids. These tests make sure the hybrids pass the strict quality guidelines set for these products.
  
  
• Growout Testing verifies that all of our hybrids meet strict quality standards.

Be Careful With Your Seed

Every kernel of seed that you plant is a living organism, whether it’s corn, soybeans, alfalfa or any other crop.  Seed bags should be handled gently and not thrown long distances or dropped on extremely hard surfaces.   Doing so can crack seed and lower germination resulting in less plants per acre.

Click the links below to view videos about Seed Processing:

• Color Sorter
  
• Drying System
  
• Quality
• Receiving
• Soft Sizing