Guest Column: Ensuring Georgia farmers receive high quality peanut seed

Originally published in the May 14, 2014, issue

 

In 2013 the state of Georgia produced 430,000 acres of peanuts. This is impressive when you consider that only 1,067,000 acres were planted in the US. That number includes production in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, Arizona, Arkansas, California, New Mexico and Tennessee. At least 95 percent of the peanut seed planted in Georgia is produced within the Georgia Crop Improvement Association’s Certified Seed program.

 

Peanut producers expect and demand high quality, genetically pure seed. Obtaining a uniform stand is one of the keys to high peanut yields. Producing high quality seed is both expensive and specialized. The Georgia Crop Improvement Association is a nonprofit organization of producers and seed conditioners dedicated to providing the highest quality seed available to producers. 

 

Through its certification service, GCIA enables the farmer to secure the best seed possible for his or her farm. Certification encourages farmers to produce seed of approved varieties and also protects the buyers of crop seed in that only seeds of high quality and superior performance are approved for certification.

 

In 2013, GCIA staff inspected and certified 106,770 acres of cropland for seed production, including 92,218 acres of peanuts. In conducting peanut field inspections, GCIA staff traveled almost 50,000 miles across Georgia in 2013.

 

The association manages a four-step quality assurance program:

• All certified seed originates from the seed developed by the breeder of the variety. University of Georgia developed varieties are licensed by the UGA Research Foundation, and propagated and distributed to licensees by the Georgia Seed Development Commission. Special care and inspection are utilized to ensure varietal purity and identity through the initial seed increase.
• Fields are inspected by GCIA personnel to verify and document varietal purity and identity. Fields that do not meet minimum isolation requirements or those containing other varieties are not harvested for seed.
• All certified peanut seed must be conditioned in approved seed conditioning facilities. These facilities are trained to maintain varietal purity and identity and must be knowledgeable of all applicable seed certification rules, state and federal seed laws. They also have the specialized equipment to shell, treat and store fragile peanut seed. In 2013, GCIA certified 45 approved seed conditioning facilities, with several plants conditioning more than one kind of certified seed, including 24 facilities approved to process seed peanuts.
• All seed must be tested in an approved laboratory. Approved laboratories have trained staffs that analyze seed for purity and test seed for germination. Peanut seed must have at least a 75 percent germination, no more than 5 percent broken seed, stones, stems, etc., and contain no noxious weed seed. Peanut seeds meeting these strict criteria are identified by a “Blue Certified Seed” tag or label, assuring the farmer of receiving a high quality seed of a known variety.

Terry Hollifield is the executive director of Georgia Crop Improvement Association and has served GCIA for more than 40 years. He is president-elect of the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies and also serves on the Georgia Agribusiness Council Board of Directors and the Barrow County Farm Bureau Board of Directors. For more information on GCIA’s Seed Certification program, visit www.certifiedseed.org. The website also includes information on GCIA’s other programs including Certified Turfgrass, Organic Certification, and Food Safety.