The
Seed Division's responsibilities are both regulatory and service based:
(1) The enforcement of Seed Laws and Regulations; (2) The management
of the Seed Certification program; and (3) The operation of an Official
Seed Laboratory. All activities are coordinated through the Division
Director.
A. Regulatory:
The ultimate purpose of seed laws and regulations is to protect
the consumer from poor quality or mislabeled planting seed and to
provide a level opportunity for the selling of seed. This is achieved
through field inspectors policing the areas where agricultural seed
is sold, checking for compliance with |+regulations and taking random
samples of the seed being offered for sale. The inspectors make
sure that all the seed, which is being offered for sale, has a label.
The label provides information for the buyer such as the germination
potential, the kind and number of noxious weeds per pound, the %
other crop, the % weeds, the % inert material present, etc.
- Regulatory
samples are tested to determine if they are in tolerance with
the label. (Seed is a living entity- if you take 100 samples
from the same bag, there would be a range the results would
fall within. If labeled 80% germination, the range in tolerance
would be 72% - 88% on a 400 seed test.) Reports generated from
these samples are as follows:
- In tolerance
with label report - sent to location where seed was sampled
- In tolerance,
but below labeled germ notice - sent to seedsman listed on label
as an alert to potential problems
- out of
tolerance - seed is stop-saled and cannot be sold until label
is brought into compliance with findings (in case of prohibited
noxious weeds, it cannot be sold at all) - sent to location
where sampled and to seedsman
- Anyone who
sells, offers for sale or distributes agricultural seed for planting
must have a license from the Plant Board, pay all applicable fees,
and have it labeled according to regulations.
Find out additional
information on our regulatory programs under our Enforcement
Section.
B. Seed Certification
/ Quality Assurance - Identity Preserved:
- As the Official
Seed Certifying Agency for Arkansas, the Seed Certification Program
provides constant supervision to the production of seed with the
highest genetic and mechanical purity. Rigid standards of quality
are set-up by the Plant Board for the three classes of certified
seed. Detailed records are maintained for four generations of
seed production. Each generation must be field inspected and then
laboratory tested. Only when all standards are met, can certified
tags/labels be issued.
- The Quality
Assurance / Identity Preserved program offers third-party unbiased
inspections for seedsmen. An individual program is designed to
meet the needs of each participating company and fees are assigned
according to the type of services needed.
Find out additional
information on these programs under our
Certification Section.
C. Official
Seed Laboratory for Arkansas- The seed laboratory tests both
regulatory samples as explained under "Seed Regulatory Program"
and service samples. Service samples are seed samples which are
submitted by seedsmen or farmers for the purpose of obtaining information
as to the quality of the seed for planting purposes.
If the seedsman
is going to sell his seed for planting, he must have an official
seed laboratory test to support the information he places on the
label.
- For Arkansas
Certified seed, this must be sampled & submitted to our lab
by Plant Board Inspectors.
- For non-certified
seed, the seedsman may sample and submit the sample to a state
official seed laboratory or a registered seed technologist of
a commercial laboratory.
Find out additional
information on the tests offered under our
Seed Services Section.
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