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Foundation Seed

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Who Can Purchase Foundation Seed? MCIA members in good standing with Registered or Approved grower status are eligible to purchase Foundation seed of previously released varieties.

• Registered grower status is attained by successfully completing certification 5 of the past 8 years and one of the past 3 years. Registered growers are eligible to receive Foundation seed of new varieties; they have priority in county seed distribution.
• Approved grower status is attained by producing and certifying seed grown from Registered seed of a previously-released variety. To become an approved grower a member must successfully complete certification 1 of the past 3 years. Approved growers can purchase Foundation seed of previously released varieties. They also are eligible to be allotted Registered seed of new varieties.
• Registered and approved grower status will be lost if a member does not successfully complete certification in at least 1 of the previous 3 years. Certification must be completed in Minnesota for a member to receive credit towards their record. To complete certification, a growers field must pass field inspection and the seed produced must pass final certification in the MCIA laboratory.

Completed Certification = Passed Field Inspection + Passed Lab Analysis

• Growers who produce seed only under a contract arrangement with another group, individual or company and do not apply for certification in their own name are not credited with a record of certification.
• Growers who apply for field inspection in their name and sell the seed produced to an approved conditioning plant receive credit toward their record of certification when the seed is properly transferred and certification of that seed is completed at MCIA.

Priorities For Filling Foundation Seed Orders

Notice of availability of Foundation seed and early-order information is mailed to eligible growers in November. The price list and order confirmation material is mailed in February. (2005 Foundation Seed Order Information & Price List)

For spring-sown crops, orders placed by March 15 (one season in advance) accompanied by a 25% down payment have first priority on available seed of any variety. Demand for seed of some varieties is very limited. Foundation seed of such varieties is produced only upon advance request.

Second priority is given to those who order by December 15. If demand exceeds supply the seed available will be prorated among those who have ordered by that time. Orders received after December 15 will be filled in the sequence received if seed is still available after priority orders have been filled.

Cancellation Policy

If all or part of an order is canceled, 25% of the payment for the canceled order will be forfeited unless an alternate customer is found for the seed or the amount canceled is substituted by an equal amount of another variety of the same crop. New varieties cannot be used to substitute for canceled orders.

Resale And Transfer

Resale or transfer of ownership of Foundation seed is prohibited without prior approval of MCIA.

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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 22, 2005 8:05 AM .