The home-saved versus certified seed debate is not new, but the seed shortages experienced this season due to a surge in demand has brought it back into the spotlight.

The rush into spring cropping to plug the gap left by the winter drilling saw many key varieties of spring barley and beans sell out well before Christmas.

Home-saved seed also offers a means of controlling costs, but certified seed has its advantages in terms of disease, quality and the latest genetics.

The quality problems last harvest reinforced the risk of fusarium ear blight resulting in seedling blight and there are reports of poor germination rates in some home-saved seed.

Crops magazine is looking in more detail at home versus certified seed and needs your help with our mini-survey.

We are looking to determine what proportion of total cropping area is typically home saved and whether the trend is for this to increase, stay the same or decrease in the coming 2-3 years.