Firstly, what is certified seed?

Seed that has been produced to standards set down by Government in a quality assurance scheme. Seed certification is voluntary and adds value and marketability to the seed by documenting it’s genetic purity and physical quality.

The quality system is focussed on maintaining the genetic identity of seed by ensuring the pedigree of certified seed can be traced back to the seed originally developed by the breeder. A buyer of certified seed can be confident that the seed in the bag is true to label. A traceable pedigree is important because, although a farmer may choose a particular variety wisely, often the new cultivar cannot be picked by eye from other varieties growing in the paddock.

Certified seed is also grown and processed to meet a number of physical quality standards. These include purity of clean seed relative to chaff, dirt, etc; high germination, and a minimum of other crop and weed seeds.

Seed Services works to the Rules and Directives of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Seed Schemes so that South Australian certified seed can compete globally for sales into OECD and European Union countries. These markets currently consume a significant percentage of the certified seed produced in South Australia.

Who can grow certified seed?

Anyone who can satisfy the requirements of the certification scheme. This usually means farmers who:

• have paddocks free of prohibited and undesirable weeds;
• can afford to invest in more expensive sowing seed;
• maintain paddock records; and
• are prepared to be thorough and adopt often costly and time consuming measures to cleandown machinery and control weeds.

Intending growers should contact Seed Services well before making any move towards producing certified seed. Failure to carry out some vital procedure, even before ploughing the paddock, may contravene the rules of the scheme for the particular crop to be grown and preclude the grower from producing certified seed.

Participation is voluntary. Growers who lodge an application form agree to abide by the rules of the certification scheme, but can also opt out at anytime.

What does it cost to grow certified seed?

Participation in the scheme incurs fees for administration, field inspections, labels and laboratory testing of cleaned seed samples. Refer to the 'Certification Fees' document in this section to see current fees for seed certification.

Are my paddocks OK for growing certified seed?

Paddock suitability relates to its crop history, isolation from contaminating pollen and weeds.

A paddock may be unsuitable because it:

• already has plants or hard seeds of the same or similar species in it;
• contains undesirable weeds or weed seeds;
• is too close to a source of contaminating pollen from a different variety.

A paddock may be rejected from certification despite a grower’s best efforts to control particular weeds or an old variety. This occurs if the contaminant cannot be distinguished in the field, detected in the laboratory or guaranteed to be removed by the processor. Such rejections protect buyers of certified seed from unwanted weeds and sub-standard varieties and also acts to protect the good reputation of the certification scheme.

Sowing seed?

Certified seed is classed according to its generation along the pedigree. "Breeder’s" seed is used to produce "Pre-basic", which is used to produce "Basic", which in turn is used to produce First Generation" or "C1" certified seed.

Most certified seed is "C1" class grown from "Basic" seed. As evidence of the pedigree of the sowing seed, labels from the Basic seed bags must be kept and forwarded to Seed Services within three weeks of sowing.

Most varieties of pasture and forage species cannot be distinguished in the field. Therefore, an unsown strip, at least two metres wide and one full lap of the paddock, must be left for inspection. This is required in some medic, clover and vetch seed crops to check whether a similar variety or species has previously grown and set seed in the paddock.

Machinery?

No special equipment is required to grow certified seed. However, seeders, headers, trucks, bins and augers must all be thoroughly cleaned to ensure there is no risk of contamination to the sowing seed or the harvested seed.

A Seed Certification Officer may inspect machinery prior to sowing or harvest in some situations, ie:

• for crops sown to produce Pre-Basic or Basic seed;
• for growers new to the certification scheme;
• as an audit check on any grower participating in the scheme.

Paddock Inspections

All crops sown for certification require at least one inspection during the growing season. The object of each inspection is to ensure that the crop being certified is not contaminated by other cultivars.

Some cultivars need to be inspected at the seedling stage; all crops are inspected at flowering and some may require a further inspection after setting seed.

To allow for correct timing of certification inspections, growers must lodge an application form (together with sowing labels and farm plan) with Seed Services within three weeks of sowing the crop. New growers must apply at least three weeks before sowing.

Seed Certification Officers will check for:

• varietal purity;
• isolation from cross-pollinating cultivars;
• crop density - to check for the unwanted introduction of seedlings in perennial crops;
• diseases;
• weeds, especially those which cannot be removed from the crop seed;
• an unsown strip in medic, clover and vetch paddocks.

Inspectors will not consider any crop for which they have no farm plan and/or for which they have no details of the seed sown (as evidenced by sowing labels and line numbers).

A copy of the Inspection Report is sent to the grower. If the crop is accepted the grower will also be sent a Seed Grower’s Declaration and Unprocessed Seed labels for that crop. The Unprocessed Seed labels must be used to identify on-farm storage bins and each load of seed delivered to the seed processor. The signed and completed Seed Grower’s Declaration must accompany the first load of seed delivered to the seed processor.

Is it worth it?

Worthwhile premiums are usually offered for certified seed. Anyone who has purchased seed containing a new weed or low germination seed from a "mate" or "neighbour" will know why.

Certification is an exercise in "Value Adding". That is to say, putting in a bit more effort to get a higher return for what you are already growing.

However, certification does cost more in grower’s time, Basic seed, certification fees and cleaning costs. Before embarking on a program of certified seed production, growers should make sure that the seed to be produced can be sold at a price that will more than cover the extra cost of producing it. It is advisable to first study the existing market and discuss the prospects for different cultivars with seed companies.

Checklist

• Study the market and seek out a seed production contract where appropriate.
• Choose varieties carefully – those with high hard seed levels may commit your paddock to that variety for years to come.
• Consult Seed Services personnel for the particular crop rules.
• Choose paddocks carefully; consider weeds, isolation, old plants and hard seed of the same species.
• Sow Basic seed through a clean seeder.
• Leave an unsown strip where applicable.
• Keep the sowing labels and record the line number(s) of seed sown. The line number is usually stencilled on the side of the bag eg AUS/S/X8128.
• Complete the application form and mail to Seed Services at least three weeks prior to sowing – be sure to enclose a farm plan.
• Control weeds and diseases.
• Harvest and handle seed with clean machinery.
• Ensure your seed is cleaned by an Accredited Seed Processor.
• If in any doubt about any particular rule, check with Seed Services.