Minnesota Crop Improvement Association is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Seed Lab Technician.
This full-time position offers a competitive salary and full benefits. MCIA’s Seed Laboratory operates out of MCIA’s main office on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.
For more information, read the full position announcement on our job openings page. Read more about the MCIA Seed Laboratory here.
By Chase Mowry
Seed Laboratory Services Manager
Seed samples tested by the Seed Laboratory during the 2021–22 fiscal year total 2,840, including 2,111 annual crop samples and 729 perennial crop samples. We will reset the numbers on July 1. The top three species tested this year were soybeans, perennial ryegrass, and wheat, in that order. Most samples submitted were for domestic certification, with a small increase from last season in service samples.
Overall, sample quality was very high. There was little disease present this year. Most abnormalities found in soybeans during evaluation of germination tests were classified as mechanical damage. This was likely due to variable weather conditions—a dry growing season coupled with late rainfalls prior to harvest, making the beans more fragile and susceptible to damage. Germination tests in small grains and corn yielded primarily high results. The lab also recently completed its fourth year working with UMN Associate Professor and Extension Agronomist Seth Naeve on his soybean foreign material project, identifying nearly 43,000 contaminants present in the 434 samples we examined.
The Seed Laboratory successfully completed its first onsite accreditation audit in early May for the USDA ASL (Accredited Seed Laboratory) program. (Last year’s audit was conducted virtually due to Covid restrictions.) The auditors found the laboratory’s Quality Management System, developed by staff, to be sufficiently maintained, meeting the USDA ASL Program and USDA Process Verified Program requirements. As a result, the Seed Laboratory has been granted continued approval, for an additional three years, for seed germination and physical purity testing of cereals and other crops, grasses, legumes, vegetable flowers and herbs, and trees and shrubs.
Early in June, I attended the AOSA/SCST (Association of Official Seed Analysts/Society of Commercial Seed Technologists) Annual Meeting, held in Chicago. The event provided me with the opportunity to attend various committee meetings, vote on new rule proposals, and discuss current issues encountered in seed testing. This year, results from a lab report audit working group, in which I participated, were presented. The working group provided feedback and suggestions on the Reports of Analysis submitted by participating laboratories.
During the summer, the Seed Laboratory will focus on accreditation items such as updating current SOPs and calibrating equipment for the upcoming season. In early June, we will send out a Seed Laboratory Customer Satisfaction Survey. This is a great opportunity for members to let us know how we did this past season. The survey will consist of a few questions regarding your experience(s). Respondents will also be able to make suggestions.
In June, Seed Laboratory Manager Chase Mowry will be sending out a
customer satisfaction survey, via MailChimp, to MCIA Seed Lab customers.
Please watch for it and take a few minutes to respond to the questions.
We greatly appreciate your participation!
Seed growers, if you haven’t submitted your seed samples for testing, do so now!
Verifying that seed standards are met is one of the last steps in the certification process.
Germination tests take at least seven days, and HPLC for wheat and oat variety ID testing can sometimes take longer. Rush service can be requested.
Be sure the info on your sampling report is complete and accurate.
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For additional information about MCIA’s Seed Laboratory, please visit https://www.mncia.org/services-programs/seed-laboratory.
MCIA Seed Laboratory Manager Chase Mowry provides a spring update:
For the most part, the seed samples we have received continue to be of high quality with few disease issues in germ tests—a good reflection of growing conditions this past year. Sample numbers for annual crop types are on track with last year, nearing 1,500 samples tested. Perennial samples continue to come in steadily, with samples tested nearing 600.
We have also completed 319 out of the 434 samples submitted by UMN Associate Professor Dr. Seth Naeve for his ongoing work in managing foreign matter in soybeans. Our lab identifies the number of contaminating species found. We expect to complete this work this spring.
We have received a few requests for protein tests—a new service we offer. Our Perten IM 9500 meter measures percent protein based on a fixed 13 percent moisture. It can measure protein for barley, canola, corn, durum, oats, rye, sorghum, and soybeans. The meter can measure oil and fiber percentages on a couple of crop kinds, as well as starch percentage on corn. If you are interested in these services, please make note on the Sampling Report accompanying your sample.
As a requirement of the USDA Accredited Seed Laboratory program, the USDA’s Seed Regulatory and Testing Division will conduct an audit of the MCIA Seed Laboratory in late April. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this will be the first on-site audit since the lab became accredited in November 2020.
The demand for your small grain seed may be slow, but do not wait to get your seed tested. The MCIA Seed Laboratory is busy, and it will take at least 7 days to get test results before issuing final reports, bulk certificates, and tags. You do not want to be waiting for a test when it is planting time.
A few other items to keep in mind:
• Update your germination. If you have carryover seed, be sure the label has a germination test date that complies with the seed law.
• Submit a Sampling Report with all samples, complete with field numbers, lot size, number of bags or totes, and tests requested.
• Be sure you received a passed seed certification report before any tags or bulk certificates are issued.
• Always tag or issue bulk certificates for the seed you distribute.
• Resolve any issues about eligibility of seed source before planting.
• Retain your tags or bulk certificate as proof of seed source for your field inspection application.
Barley* (no prechill): 7 days
Corn: 7 days
Oats* (no prechill): 10 days
Rye* (no prechill): 7 days
Ryegrass (no prechill): 14 days
Soybeans: 7 days
Wheat* (no prechill): 7 days
*A prechill is required for all 2021 crop year samples, which will add at least 5 days to the germination test.
For more information about the services provided by MCIA’s Seed Laboratory, please visit: https://www.mncia.org/services-programs/seed-laboratory.
MCIA’s Seed Laboratory Manager, Chase Mowry, reflects on the year past:
2021 has been a little different, to say the least. From continuing to navigate operations during the Covid-19 pandemic to uncertainties in crop yields, the impact of such challenges cannot be overstated.
Despite the drought conditions faced by growers this past season, the number of samples submitted for testing since July 1 is nearly 950, with good quality shown overall. Disease issues in samples tested has been relatively low so far, with only a few small grain lots displaying minor Fusarium (scab) infection. Soybean samples with lower germinations have primarily been the result of mechanical damage, although some disease presence has been noted as well. A preliminary germination or TZ test may help you in early assessment of the quality of your lots.
We have also recently received samples from Associate Professor and Extension Agronomist Seth Naeve. This will be the fourth year in which the Seed Laboratory has aided in the identification of seed contaminants from soybean screenings collected from plots grown across the United States. Information regarding Naeve’s ongoing project, including seed quality reports and videos on managing foreign material, can be found on the Soybean Seed Quality page of the UMN Extension website: extension.umn.edu/soybean/soybean-seed-quality.
As a reminder, be sure to include a Sampling Report for each sample submitted for testing, even when requesting a germination update. This allows us to assign a unique report number to the sample being tested, as well as process samples with greater throughput. Please use the new version of the Sampling Report, which is available on the Client Resources page of the MCIA website, www.mncia.org/resources.
Given the extreme growing conditions in 2021, seed producers should consider a preliminary germination test before conditioning.
An MCIA Seed Laboratory test will help assess seed quality and identify potential problem lots.
If you have questions or need sample bags or sampling reports, please contact MCIA.
Minnesota Crop Improvement Association welcomes Connie McDowell to our staff! Connie started her work with the MCIA Seed Laboratory as a lab technician in August.
Connie graduated from Kansas State University earlier this year with a B.S. in agronomy. She interned at the Kansas Crop Improvement Association (KCIA), where she performed field inspections, primarily for wheat seed, and conducted various seed testing functions at the KCIA Seed Lab.
Connie also worked at the agronomy department library at K-State and contributed to the student lab manual for the AGRON 305 – Soils class.
To learn more about the MCIA Seed Laboratory, click here.
