Seed Certification in New York
The mission of the New York Certified Seed program is to increase the quality and purity of crop seed sold and planted in New York, and to facilitate grower access to improved seed developed at Cornell and other publicly funded breeding programs.
What is Certified Seed?
Certified seed is high-quality, high-purity seed produced by approved growers following stringent standards defined in the NY Seed Certification Standards and administered by NYSIP’s Certified Seed Program. Certified seed, recognizable by its distinctive blue tag, affirms the following important characteristics:
- Pure seed that is true to type
- Healthy, disease-free seed with high germination rate
- Clean seed, without impurities or weed seeds
- Traceable identity
The Certification process involves evaluation of eligibility of seed stocks, planting equipment and proposed fields prior to planting by qualified growers. As the crop matures, field inspections are conducted by NYSIP staff (and NY Ag & Markets in potato fields) during the growing season to ensure there are no noxious weeds, off-types, or disease present in the field. At harvest, properly cleaned equipment for harvest and conditioning to avoid contamination and maximize seed quality and purity. Finally, lab tests are required to verify quality, health, purity and germination rate of the seed. If the seed lot passes all of the checks, the grower may apply for Certified seed tags (or certificates, in the case of bulk lots) for labeling before sale. Certified seed lots are also listed in our annual Grower Directories to help with marketing and facilitate direct sourcing by interested farmers.
For seed buyers, planting hundreds or thousands of acres of a particular crop, buying “blue tag” Certified seed is an assurance of a quality start and worthy investment.
In New York, seed certification responsibilities are delegated to Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences by the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. At Cornell, these responsibilities are assigned to us, the New York Seed Improvement Project (NYSIP) within the extension arm of the Plant Breeding and Genetics Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science. NYSIP is a vested member agency of the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA).
The NYSIP Seed Certification program’s main focus currently is small grains (wheat, barley, oats, triticale), soybeans, as well as seed potatoes, though we have inspected and certified other crops such as dry beans and buckwheat.
Potato Seed Certification
Certifying seed potatoes has a similar set of requirements as grain seed but they require slightly different treatment since potatoes are clonally propagated and are more vulnerable to disease issues. Potato fields must undergo two inspections during the growing season, plus a bin inspection following harvest. Additionally, seed potatoes must successfully pass a Winter Test to ensure samples from the harvested seed lots are disease free and true to type. Winter Tests have classically been conducted as a field grow-out in Florida or Hawaii. However, in 2023 NYSIP made the decision to instead conduct the NY Certified Seed Potato Winter Test in the form of laboratory testing by the Maine Potato Disease Testing Lab.
Why buy certified seed?
There are good reasons to source Certified seed for your farm. By using genetically pure, healthy, high-germination, disease and weed-free seed you have a much better chance to optimize your harvest. Also, Certified seed could be a way to help clean up your fields: replanting weeds and disease can be an issue with planting bin-run grain.
Many factors are at play when raising successful crops. Certified seed provides some decent insurance that your crop will have the best chance to succeed. For potato growers, especially in New York’s wetter fields, sourcing certified seed is valuable insurance for minimizing disease issues in your fields and verifying the generation and variety of the tubers you plant.
How to buy certified seed
If you are a grower interested in purchasing and planting NY Certified Seed, refer to our annually-released NY Certified Crop Directories for the current listing of participating growers and the varieties of small grains and seed potato varieties produced in the program this year.
Additionally, we offer some grain seed for sale through our Foundation Seed Program.
How to become a certified seed grower
If you are interested in becoming a Certified seed grower, check out our How to Become a Certified Seed Producer page and/or feel free to contact us with any questions you have.
Forms & Fees
For all Certification forms and fee, go to our Forms & Fees page.
Certified Seed Regulations
These are the set of rules and regulations governing the certification of seed and the required operating procedures of our Certification program:
Types of certified seed tags
There are other colors of NY certified seed labels you might come across, including green tags in our Quality Assurance program. There are four main recognized classes of seed in any seed certification program, namely; Breeder, Foundation, Registered and Certified:
1. Breeder Seed is seed (or other vegetative propagating material) directly controlled by the originating or the sponsoring plant breeder or institution. This seed lot provides the source for the initial and recurring increase of Foundation Seed. There is generally a very small amount of this originating seed. NYSIP carefully grows out this seed as the source for multiplication and wider release.
2. Foundation Seed is the next step in the amplification process and is the source seed required for growers who wish to produce Certified Seed. NYSIP manages the grow-out and conditioning of this seed within the Cornell Foundation Seed program.
3. Registered Seed is the progeny of Foundation Seed. Registered Seed is so handled as to maintain satisfactory genetic identity and purity, and is so certified by the New York Seed Improvement Project. This class of seed is less frequently utilized but it is quality suitable for the production of Certified Seed.
4. Certified Seed is the progeny of Foundation or Registered Seed. Certified Seed, recognized by its blue tag, is produced by growers who have successfully completed the Certified Seed Program’s requirements to maintain crop purity and seed health. This seed is used by growers for high quality commercial seed production.