This week, the Red Dirt Agronomy crew sits down with Jeff Wright of Oklahoma Foundation Seed to trace the wheat seed pipeline—from a few pounds in the breeder’s bag to the certified seed growers buy. 
Jeff opens the hood on a weather‑delayed harvest that still posted only ~5% sprout damage and a 56‑lb test weight on Orange Blossom, then tells the highway‑shoulder saga of backing a combine down I‑44 after a trailer failure. 
He explains the four certified seed classes (breeder → foundation → registered → certified), why purity matters, and how new tools—like fast‑cleaning plot combines and precision planters—help scale a 10–15 lb start into bushels, quicker. 
Agronomy nuggets abound: skip‑row/wide‑row, ~500k seeds/acre targets, and how partnerships from Hutchinson to Stillwater keep seed flowing across the Plains.

Top ten takeaways

1. The seed pipeline exists to protect purity—breeder → foundation → registered → certified—so farmers get exactly the genetics they expect.
2. Even in a rough year, Orange Blossom came off with ~5% sprout damage and 56‑lb test weight, underscoring how management and luck intersect.
3. Logistics are real: after losing two trailer wheels, Jeff literally backed a combine down I‑44 to keep harvest moving.
4. Modern gear speeds purity: a Kincaid research combine can be torn down and cleaned in about 1–1.5 hours(often right in the field).
5. Tiny starts can scale fast: planting 10–15 lb with a research planter can produce bushels the next year and accelerate releases like Scab Striker.
6. Low‑pop, wide/skip‑row wheat works—Jeff often targets ~500,000 seeds/acre and still harvests competitive yields.
7. Trait licensing shapes access: certain lines (e.g., DoubleStop, Strad, CoAXium) are certified‑seed‑only or under special contracts.
8. Cross‑state coordination matters: OSU and K‑State swap seed and use Hutchinson, KS, as a hand‑off to serve customers on both sides of the line.
9. Cold storage and national germplasm archives keep legacy varieties alive for future breeding and rescue.
10. The future’s colorful (literally): purple wheats, higher‑fiber lines, and other innovations are on the horizon.
     

Timestamps:

00:00–00:18 — Sponsor: Oklahoma Wheat Commission; “feeding the world while growing the future.”
00:19–01:20 — Show open, Ep. 424; “lots of wheat going in the ground across the Great Plains.”
01:21–02:16 — Team roll call: Dr. Brian Arnall, Dr. Josh Lofton, Dr. Raedan Sharry; booth banter.
02:25–03:38 — Meet Jeff Wright, manager of Oklahoma Foundation Seed; recorded at High Plains Journal Live (Wichita).
03:39–04:52 — Harvest chaos: cutting delays; “lost two wheels” off the trailer; backed a combine down I‑44 to solve it.
04:53–06:10 — What Foundation Seed does: maintain purity, scale new releases, and handle more than wheat (barley, oats, rye, peanuts, mung beans, forage grasses).
06:11–08:14 — Weather impact: a late cut still tested ~5% sprout damage and 56 lb test weight on Orange Blossom; theory on staying consistently wet.
08:15–12:26 — Jeff’s 18‑year arc (since 2007): from F2 gleaners and all‑day cleanouts to better logistics and later planting windows.
12:27–15:06 — Launching varieties faster: from Duster’s slow start to handling 15–10 lb starts across many lines.
15:07–17:22 — Research planter tactics: planting ~25 lb over ~2 acres (80 bu the next year) and 15 lb over ~2 acres (later “Scab Striker” at ~90 bu).
18:13–19:32 — Equipment leap: Kincaid seed‑production combine (clean in ~1–1.5 hours in the field) and a small 10‑ft header plot machine (30 minutes, one person).
20:09–21:11 — Seed classes explained: breeder → foundation → registered → certified; most OSU lines can be saved farm‑to‑farm, with traited exceptions (e.g., DoubleStop, Strad, some CoAXium).
21:53–24:26 — How other states do it; crop mixes; Kansas heavy in wheat, Missouri soybeans, Georgia peanuts.
24:37–26:06 — Coordination with K‑State and Kansas Wheat Alliance; swap seed and use Hutchinson as a distribution point.
26:46–28:06 — Facilities: moved into a new building in 2018; goal to hard‑install cleaning equipment (retire the portable setup).
28:36–29:46 — Agronomy: ~500k seeds/acre can still push yield; which plant types handle wider rows/skip rows best (good tillering, wide leaves).
30:09–33:05 — When varieties fade: carryover strategy, hauling to the elevator, and keeping small lots in cold storage; national germplasm backup.
34:33–35:24 — What’s next: purple wheats, high‑fiber lines, and more CoAXium—“exciting changes ahead.”|
36:00–37:30 — Why producer partnerships matter; wrap and contact info

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