Volunteer cereals

Volunteer Weeds

Occurrence:
Volunteer cereals arise from seed shed at or before crop harvest. In barley the whole ear may break off while in wheat individual grains tend to fall from the spikelet. Some cultivars are more resistant to shedding and lose 5% of grains compared with an average of 16%. Cereal seedlings can emerge from straw used as mulch or as animal bedding. Seed can also be carried on and dispersed by farm machinery. Seedlings that reach maturity will produce a further generation of potential volunteer seedlings. - https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/weeds/volunteer-cereals

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Crop plants that volunteer in planted crops are considered weeds. Volunteer crop plants present the farmer with many of the same problems associated with traditional weeds: they reduce yields of the planted crop by competing for moisture, nutrients, and light, serve as hosts for diseases and insects that attack the planted crop, and interfere with harvesting operations. Volunteer crop plants also can reduce the quality of the harvested crop. - http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/index.php/utils/getfile/col...