Everything You Need to Know About Soil Testing

Geotechnical testing is the procedure that is used to gather data on the physical attributes of soil to determine the viability of a proposed structure. Several different issues will need to be addressed before you actually begin to carry out any testing. Still, the main thing that you need to consider when carrying out the testing is the safety of your staff and the equipment that you have.

geotechnical testing

Geotechnical testing is also essential when dealing with underground materials such as pipelines, shafts, foundations and shafts. This is because the chemicals that are used in the test will affect the integrity and durability of the material and may even pose a danger to anyone who has to work around it.

What’s Involved in Geotechnical Testing?

Geotechnical testing involves the testing of all sorts of things that are technological so that you can make sure that everything that you have worked on is safe. The safety of your workers needs to ensure that all equipment is in working order so that it is safe to use. The most important thing is that you do not have to rely on the tests that are carried out by the company that you are using for your geotechnical services to ensure that everything is okay.

You will find that different levels of geotechnical testing are available for each type of equipment. Companies like Soil Testing Brisbane offer affordable soil testing services. Get in contact with them for any of your geotechnical testing needs. If you are looking to install equipment that will be used for the construction of an electrical cable or you are installing a pump then you will have to undertake different tests to make sure that the equipment will perform properly. Some of the equipment that you will need to use to test the machinery that you use will include the testing of the equipment’s integrity and the capacity to deal with pressure. Several different elements need to be checked so that you can be confident that the machinery that you are using is in perfect working order.

What Kinds of Equipment Are Used in Geotechnical Testing? 

Several different types of machines are used to carry out the testing, and these include the hydraulic testing equipment and the magnetic testing equipment. These two types of machinery will give you the best results so that you will be able to know that there are no problems that you may face if you were to have an accident while using your machinery.

The equipment that you use for testing will be used to examine the integrity of the pipes, the concrete, the casing that will be used for the piping and it will also be used to test the strength of the lines and the steel. As well as checking the power, the test equipment will be used to check the resistance that the pipes have to temperature and pressure.

To be able to determine the failure points in the pipes and the piping, the testing will also be used to examine the different parts of the pipes that are located in the pipelines. The pipes themselves will be inspected so that you will be able to discover the causes of failure and the causes of the loss will have to be resolved so that you can improve your efficiency and the reliability of your equipment.

What Else Do I Need to Keep in Mind? 

When you carry out the testing, you will need to be aware of the fact that the piping may break down and the testing that you carry out will allow you to identify the reason for the breakdown and how you can avoid making any further repairs to the pipelines. You will need to take a look at the different types of failure of the pipes and also the reasons for their loss and determine whether or not they can be fixed.

Earth Choice Project

The Australian Seeds Authority (ASA) is responsible for controlling seed certification in Australia, and oversights two certification schemes:
  • the OECD Schemes for the Varietal Certification or the Control of Seed Moving in International Trade, and
  • the Australian Seed Certification Scheme
ASA is licensed by the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) to undertake the role of the National Designated Authority for the OECD seed schemes, and, at the request of the Australian seed industry, operates the Australian Seed Certification Scheme which is used principally for seed not destined for export. The rules of the Australian Seed Certification Scheme are essentially the same as for the OECD seed schemes, with only a few differences in the requirements for post-control testing. ASA, in turn, licenses three certification agencies, Seed Services Australia, AsureQuality and Agwest Plant Laboratories, through formal Authorisation Agreements to undertake the day to day operations of seed certification.  Each of these seed certification agencies is required to achieve, and maintain, accreditation with NATA (the National Association of Testing Authorities) for their management and record systems to ensure that they are meeting the requirements of ASA in conducting seed certification programs which comply with the rules of the OECD and the Australian Seed Certification schemes. ASA also co-ordinates official Australian interaction with the International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) on international seed testing policy and practice and has signed Authorisation Agreements with four ISTA-accredited laboratories to test certified seed prior to its final release as certified organic seeds. ASA has established two committees to assist in its operations. The ASA Technical Advisory Committee (ASATAC) is composed of representatives of certification agencies and the seed industry and provides advice on technical matters to the ASA Board. The Public Variety Maintenance Panel (PVMP) is responsible for oversighting Maintenance Agreements on older public varieties for which the breeder is no longer willing or able to continue a supply of Basic Seed of varieties for which there is an ongoing demand for certified seed.  Further information on ASATAC and PVMP is available elsewhere on this site. ASA is a not-for-profit company, jointly established in 2002 by the Australian Seed Federation (ASF), and the Grains Council of Australia (GCA). With the demise of the GCA in 2009, Grain Producers Australia (GPA) is now the seed grower body jointly sharing control of ASA. ASA has a Board of 7 Directors, a CEO and an Executive Officer and reports to DAFF and to ASF and GPA. Contact details for ASA are: Postal address:   PO Box 187 Lindfield, NSW 2070. CEO email:  lcook@earthchoiceproject.com.au

What is a Seed and How Does it Work

How to Produce and Store Seed which Maintains Viability and Germination Vigour

A seed is the reproductive mechanism of a plant. Not all plants produce seed (some produce spores or reproduce vegetatively), but most higher plants do produce seed.

Seed Structure

Seeds vary enormously in their structure, but essentially they contain an embryo plant and a food source to enable that embryo to become established and able to produce its own food through photosynthesis. The three types of seed most commonly used in agriculture are:

  • Grasses – the cereals, wheat, barley, oats, maize, sorghum and rice are all grasses, as well as the pasture grasses like ryegrass, phalaris, cocksfoot etc. Their embryo produces just one cotyledon (or “seed leaf”) and hence they are called monocotyledons. The embryo (sometimes referred to as the “germ”) usually sits on the outside of the seed and the stored food (endosperm) is mostly complex carbohydrates like starch.
  • Legumes – this group includes peas, the various beans such as French beans, fava beans etc., lupins, chickpeas, lentil and the pasture legumes such as subterranean clover, the medics and lucerne. Legumes produce two cotyledons (or seed leaves) and are called dicotyledons. The embryo is normally inside the seed and the food store is mostly contained in the cotyledons and contains a much higher level of protein than the grasses.
  •  Oilseeds – this group includes sunflower, canola, safflower, and soybeans. These are all dicotyledons like the legumes, but their food store contains much higher levels of oil than the legumes or grasses.

These different structures and food storages have implications for the production, harvesting, handling and storage of seed of these species.

Seed Biology and Germination

A seed is a living breathing organism, despite appearing inert or even dead, referenced reblocking specialists Melbourne. The embryo stays alive through access to food and oxygen. Eventually, if it runs out of food or is subjected to physical damage or attack by insects or fungus, it will die. If you want the seed to be sown to produce another plant, a dead seed is of no value whatever.

When a seed has access to free water, it takes up that water (this process is called imbibition) and this, in turn, creates biochemical changes in the seed which start the process of germination. The food source is converted from the relatively insoluble starch or oil to soluble sugars and transported to the embryo, which starts to grow.  Roots develop and emerge into the soil to take up water and nutrients, and anchor the little plant in the soil and then the first seed leaf appears above ground and subsequently, the true leaves.

In the case of the grasses, once the cotyledon has emerged, it develops chlorophyll and begins to photosynthesise or convert the energy in the sun’s rays to soluble sugars. The first true leaf grows out beside the cotyledon, and subsequent leaves grow around the first true leaf. The seed stays in the ground and eventually disappears after sending all its food to the embryo.

In the case of the legumes and oilseeds, the two cotyledons actually emerge from the ground, and begin to photosynthesise, leaving the roots in the soil. The stem grows out between the cotyledons and begins to develop further true leaves. The two cotyledons eventually wither away after they have delivered all their food resources to the embryo.

If the seed has been planted in soil, and the soil remains moist enough for it to complete the germination process, the plant will become established, and continue to grow as moisture and nutrient levels, and access to sunlight allow.

Seed Longevity

The life and vigour of seeds can be shortened or extended depending on how they are treated. They can be physically damaged during harvest, transport or storage, and their longevity can be dramatically shortened if they are not stored in good conditions.

To be harvested, the seed is usually threshed in a header, unloaded by an augur into a truck, and subsequently moved from truck to silo to truck to cleaning plant by augurs or other seed transporting systems. Anyone of these can cause physical damage. Seed can be damaged in the header by too severe threshing. Large seeded legumes are particularly prone to damage at this time – by too small a drum clearance, or too high a threshing speed. However, even cereals can be damaged in this process. Barley intended for malting can be rendered unsuitable by “skinning” where part of the seed coat is knocked off during threshing. This allows uneven water uptake and hence too quick germination. This would also affect its germination and establishment if used for sowing a crop.

Large seeded legumes can also be easily damaged by augurs, and by being dropped onto a hard surface at any stage in their handling and transport.

Seed harvested at too high a moisture level, can “sweat” or “heat” very quickly if it is stored in bulk. Anything above about 13% moisture level can cause problems, and any seed harvested at above 15% moisture should be quickly dried. However drying at too high a temperature can also damage seed, so the temperature must be carefully controlled and monitored, and it should never exceed 65 degrees Celsius.

The lower the moisture level, the longer the seed will survive, all other things being equal. Low moisture level prevents insect and fungal attack, and it puts the embryo into a sort of hibernation whereby it needs less food and oxygen.

The lower the temperature, the longer the seed will survive. Moisture level and temperature interact both positively and negatively. So if seed is stored at high moisture levels, and high temperature, it will succumb quite quickly. On the other hand, if seed is stored at low moisture level, and low temperatures, it will survive for a very long time.

Seed banks reduce the moisture level of seed down to 3 – 4% and store it in airtight pouches at minus 20 degrees Celsius. The seed will last many decades, and probably centuries in this regime.

Another particularly damaging storage regime is one where the temperature and/or moisture level fluctuate regularly. It is better to store seed at a consistent 25 degrees Celsius than subject it to an alternating temperature of 20 to 30 degrees.


Good Treatment Allows Long Life and Vigorous Seedlings

So to produce good quality seed, which maintains its viability and germination vigour for as long as possible, you need to be careful at every stage of the seed’s harvest, handling, cleaning and storage. Adjust the header properly so as not to damage the seed during threshing and auguring out of the header into trucks.

Measure the moisture content at harvest, and if it is above 15% make sure the seed is dried carefully, as soon as possible. Handle the seed gently and especially don’t drop it long distances into the steel bin of a truck.

Handle the seed carefully and gently in the cleaning plant. Store it at the lowest possible moisture level, and temperature, and don’t expose it to regularly fluctuating temperatures.

News from Earth Choice Project – May 2019

New Procedures for Maintaining the Certification Status of Seed During Coating or Treating

The Australian Seeds Authority has been concerned that certified seed was losing that status during any coating or treating process. This was to the disadvantage of both the seller and the buyer of the seed, so ASA has reviewed its requirements to overcome this problem.

The detailed requirements are available from the ASA or the certification agencies, but the key issues are:-

  1. The certified seed must be coated or treated only by a seed processor authorised to process certified seed.
  2. New certification labels must be printed and attached, and a new certification seedlot number must be created. This can be created by the addition of a suffix or prefix to the original certification seedlot number.
  3. If the uncoated seedlot had been sampled and tested LESS than 6 months prior to the treatment or coating, the certification agency may issue a certification certificate for treated or coated seed. These certification certificates allow the reporting of the purity and germination test results on the uncoated seed lot, and require the original and the new certification seed lot identification to be reported on this certificate.
  4. If the uncoated seed had been sampled and tested MORE than 6 months before the coating or treatment, a new sample of the coated/treated seed must be drawn and a new seed test conducted, and a new seed testing certificate issued.
  5. If the coating results in a seedlot which now exceeds the maximum size for that species, the seedlot must be split into two (or more) seedlots which each do not exceed the maximum for that species, and two (or more) new certification seedlot numbers created.
  6. The new sacks must be labelled in the same way as required for the uncoated/untreated seedlot.
  7. Seed processors authorised to process certified seed should consult with their chosen certification agency before treating or coating certified seed to ensure they meet all the requirements for the seedlot to retain its certification status.

Lindsay Cook

CEO, Australian Seeds Authority

May 2019