Uniformity is of great significance to individuals involved in the marketing of seeds. Consistent and accurate seed testing results provide a solid foundation for the sale of quality seeds between seed companies, as well as from companies to farmers and other end-users. However, lately seed companies and brokers have expressed concern that testing results may differ from testing lab to testing lab—or even within a testing lab. In response to these concerns, the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA), the Association of Official Seed Analysts (AOSA), and the Society of Commercial Seed Technologists (SCST) have worked to develop strategies to ensure uniformity in seed testing. These strategies include the certification and proficiency testing of seed analysts, and the provision of increased training opportunities.
This year the Iowa State University Seed Science Center hosted the SCST Genetic Testing Super Workshop at Ames on February 8-12. The Super Workshop consisted of five individual workshops on the topics of: Molecular Biology, PCR, Immunoassay (ELISA and lateral flow strips), Herbicide Bioassay, and Electrophoresis. Participants traveled from across the U.S. to take part in this valuable educational program. In addition to the Super Workshop, the Seed Science Center offers many training opportunities, including the Seed Analyst Short Course, the Corn and Soybean Seed Quality Workshop, and a summer-long schedule of seed conditioning workshops. This year’s Seed Analyst Short Course will be held on April 18-21 (Purity) and April 25-28 (Germination). As in past years, the seed analysis exam will be offered on Friday of each week. What is fairly new, however, is that the purity and the germination exams are consolidated— AOSA and SCST jointly offers them. While Iowa State has offered the AOSA exams for many years, the consolidated exam has only been offered recently .
The Seed Analyst Short Course is designed for beginners, those studying to take AOSA CSA exams or SCST RST exams (same exams – Purity and Germination – different title awarded on successful completion) and others interested in obtaining well-rounded training in seed analysis. One-on-one attention is offered to each participant; in fact, we truly believe that the only “dumb” question is the one that wasn’t asked! To register for one or both weeks of the Seed Analyst Short Course, visit our Training page. For additional information on the exams, and to access the application forms necessary for taking the exams, visit the AOSA website at (www.aosaseed.com) or the SCST website at (www.seedtechnology.net).
There aren’t many seed testing-related short courses or workshops offered annually in the United States. Past workshops have been located at venues such as the Federal Lab in North Carolina, or at Mississippi State, Colorado State, Oregon State, and the Idaho Seed Analysts Association. Therefore, we hope you’ll consider joining us at Iowa State University Seed Lab where our short courses are recognized for their wide range of species information, training topics, and friendly instructors. For more information about upcoming ISU training opportunities, including tentative agendas, visit our Training section or contact Seed Lab Manager Mike Stahr (mgstahr@iastate.edu, 515-294-0117) for more information.
Mike
