SEED CERTIFICATION

Definition: Seed certification is a legally sanctioned system for quality control of seed multiplication and production.

Purpose of seed certification

The purpose of seed certification is to maintain and make available to the public, through certification, high quality seeds and propagating materials of notified kind and varieties so grown and distributed as to ensure genetic identity and genetic purity.

IMPORTANCE OF CERTIFIED SEED

Certified seed is the starting point to a successful crop as well as an important risk management tool.

Here are the top 10 reasons to use certified seed:

Certified seed is grown under stringent production requirements and has minimal weed seeds or other matter.

Certified seed uses systems to maximize genetic purity Off-types, other crop seeds, and weeds are guaranteed to be minimized

Third party inspections in the field and at the processing plant ensure that all quality assurance requirements have been met. You can rest easy knowing your seed is what you expect it to be and can back up your assurances to others.

Many end-users are requiring specific varieties for their products.Using certified seed can open the door to new opportunities and greater sales by providing proof of varietal identity.

Improved traits like better yield, pest resistance, drought tolerance, herbicide tolerance, and much more are delivered to farmers in certified seed. Years of research and development went into these traits and they can only be reliably accessed through certified seed use.

The blue tag is proof that you used certified seed to maintain the value traits of the crop. It’s your assurance to grain buyers and others that what you are delivering is what you say it is.

Certified seed use can, in some cases, allow you to get a better deal on crop insurance premiums. Insurers know that certified seed means a crop with reduced risk.

You want the best genetics and purest fields to ensure you are making the most of your input dollars. Certified seed means you’re not wasting time and other inputs on a crop that won’t make grade.

Proper inputs make for a good crop, but seed is the only input that can get you more than higher yields. Use of certified seed can be your ticket to premium markets like tofu soybeans or high stability canola and MORE.

Food safety and traceability are important considerations in agriculture. You can only be sure of your product if you know its origins. Certified seed is the key to that knowledge: production of this seed is carefully controlled under a quality assurance system right from the very beginning. Using certified seed will allow you to capitalize on a whole history of traceability measures.