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History of MN Crop Improvement Association

The Minnesota Crop Improvement Association was founded during the 1903 Minnesota State Fair on September 2 at a meeting in the Territorial Pioneers Log Cabin on the fairgrounds. The meeting was called by Willet M. Hays and Coates P. Bull, University of Minnesota plant breeders, and was attended by several farmers interested in improved varieties of field crops. By 1908 the new association had grown to 107 members.

Although it had earlier established registered and certified seed classes, the Minnesota Crop Improvement Association did not officially publish its first rules for certification until 1920. It was a founder of the International Crop Improvement Association which was established at a meeting in St. Paul in 1919 and later became the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA).

The Minnesota Seed Grower, MCIA's official publication, was established in 1928 and has since been published continuously on a regular schedule. MCIA was the first U.S. seed certification agency to adopt a computerized system for keeping certification records. MCIA has played a leadership role in many aspects of seed certification; it is one of America's highest volume seed certification agencies.

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©2005 Minnesota Crop Improvement Association. All rights reserved.
Photos are courtesy of U of MN Agricultural Experiment Station and USDA NRCS.
This page was last updated on August 1, 2005 1:03 PM .