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Quality Assurance

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Introduction

The purpose of MCIA’s Quality Assurance (QA) program is to provide a complete service for seed merchandised as varieties, hybrids, brands or blends. System guidelines are very similar to certification guidelines and enable the seed producer to market seed with the assurance to each customer that the seed is of known purity and quality as verified by an unbiased third-party agency.

The program provides:

  • Coordinated, professional and unbiased field inspections and laboratory testing for quality control in seed production, conditioning and marketing
  • Unbiased record system for use in meeting state and federal seed law requirements, assessing royalties or research fees, establishing a defense for use in avoiding problems and helping to resolve problems between seed suppliers, growers and customers
  • A marketing image of sound quality control for selling seed
  • Seed buyers with assurance that the designated seed has met purity standards related to a known description across seedlots and years of production

Requirements to produce QA seed:

While MCIA’s QA program may be customized to meet specific needs, specific portions of the program must be completed in order to label with the QA logo.

  • Planting eligible stock - seed source proof is mandatory.
  • Field inspection - random plant counts throughout the field and evaluation of genetic purity determine whether the field is accepted or rejected.
  • Seed samples must meet standards based on complete lab analysis - seed testing is based on detailed analysis of a representative, cleaned sample from the seedlot.
  • Proper seed labeling - specific requirements apply to analysis and green QA tags.

Contact James Boots, Manager of Special Services at 507-644-3093 or email at jkboots@means.net.

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1900 Hendon Avenue, St. Paul MN 55108
Toll free: 1-800-510-6242 Phone: 612-625-7766 Fax: 612-625-3748
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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 2:32 PM .