Purchasing seed that has been tested and labeled in accordance with the Federal Seed Act is crucial for ensuring the quality and authenticity of the seed you’re buying. This act mandates that any seed sold for commercial use must be tested for purity, germination rates, and the presence of noxious weeds. The seed labels must accurately reflect these test results to provide buyers with essential information to make informed decisions.
Avoid bin-run or unlabeled seed, as it bypasses required testing, so you have no guarantee of what you’re actually getting. Adding unlabeled seed to your system can have long term consequences such as introducing new weeds, increasing negative pests and disease, or poor germination.
A – VARIETY: Indicates the type of seed along with the name of the genetic variety. If the variety is not known, or it’s open-source material, it will be listed as VNS (Variety Not Stated or Variety Unknown). VNS varieties are unreliable as performance is unknown
B – LOT: A unique number used to track a specific batch or quantity
C – PURE SEED: The percentage, by weight, the percentage of the seed ingredient listed
D – INERT MATTER: The content of material that is not seed weight such as chaff or stems
E – WEED SEED: The amount of weed seeds present
F – NOXIOUS WEEDS: The number and kinds of weeds per pound that must be identified and listed by name, unique to each state and country
G – GERMINATION: The percentage of seed that will germinate for each ingredient (refer to the “Test Date” to see how current the information is). Germination may include a hard seed count which adds to the overall germination total
H – ORIGIN: The location where the seed was produced
