Heritage Grain Seed Quality Assurance Program

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After you login successfully, the next page will show a table of all your certification applications. The link to begin a Heritage Grains Application is near the bottom of this page along with a few other links. If you have no applications you will see only the links.

Program Fee

The fee for this program is $31.25 per acre. The minimum application fee is $125.

General Standards

Designated Classes of Seed

Classes of seed referenced in the Program are designated and defined by the CCIA as follows:

Original Source Seed – seed sourced from the earliest known specimen sample, similar to Breeder seed in a conventional certification program.
Accession Increase 1 through X – Original Source seed will be increased (A1, A2, etc.) until a sufficient quantity of seed has been generated to plant not more than 10 acres. These increases will be made under the direct supervision and control of the participating company. This is similar to Breeder seed in a conventional seed certification program.
Quality Assurance-1 (QA1) – the generation harvested from fields sewn with Accession Increased seed, similar to Foundation seed in a conventional seed certification program.
Quality Assurance-2 (QA2) – the generation harvested from fields sewn with QA1 seed, similar to Registered seed in a conventional seed certification program.
Quality Assurance-3 (QA3) – the generation harvested from fields sewn with QA2 seed, similar to Certified seed in a conventional seed certification program.

Limitations of Generations

The number of generations through which a germplasm entity may be multiplied shall not exceed two generations beyond the Quality Assurance-1 (QA1) seed class, with the following exceptions, which may be made with the permission of the CCIA:

The production of an additional generation of the Quality Assurance-3 (QA3) class may be permitted on a one-year basis only when an emergency is declared by the CCIA stating that the QA1 and QA2 seed supplies are not adequate to plant the needed QA3 acreage of the germplasm entity. The additional generation of QA3 seed produced to meet the emergency need is ineligible for further reproduction in the Program.
The production of an additional generation of the QA3 class may be permitted for one harvest only when an emergency is declared by the CCIA stating that an unanticipated event occurred post-planting and expected production will be insufficient to meet expected demand. The additional generation of QA3 seed produced to meet the emergency need is ineligible for further reproduction in the Program.

Land Requirements

The land must not have grown a small grain crop during either of the two (2) previous years unless the field was planted with quality assured seed of the same germplasm entity of the QA1, QA2 or QA3 generation and met field inspection requirements for varietal purity. Only one (1) year is required if the intervening crop was irrigated.

Field Standards

1. General Field Standards

Isolation:
1. Wheat, Oats, Barley, Triticale:
  A field producing any class of quality assured seed of a specific crop kind shall be separated from fields producing other varieties of the same crop kind by a minimum distance of 10 feet.
2. Rye and Buckwheat:
  A field producing any class of quality assured seed of a specific crop kind must be isolated by at least 660 feet from fields of any other variety or fields of the same variety that do not meet the varietal purity requirements of the class of seed inspected and are the same chromosome number. Isolation between diploid and tetraploid rye shall be at least 15 feet.
3. All Small Grains Crop Kinds:
  A field producing any class of quality assured seed of a specific crop kind shall be separated from fields producing inseparable crop kinds by a distance adequate to prevent mechanical mixing.

2. Specific Standards:

Factor	QA1	QA2	QA3
Other varieties (maximum)	1:3,000	1;2,000	1;1,000
Inseparable other crops (maximum)*	1:10,000	1:10,000	1:2,000
Objectionable weeds whose seed are inseparable (maximum)**	None	None	None

*Inseparable other crops shall include crop plants, the seed of which cannot be thoroughly removed by the usual methods of conditioning. Rye in winter wheat and barley in oats are well known examples.

**Objectionable weeds are designated by the CCIA.

Diseases -- Barley stripe may not exceed five (5) plants per acre. Smut of any type is limited to five (5) plants per acre in QA1 and QA2 fields, and thirty two (32) plants per acre in QA3 fields. Seed treatment may be required in some cases.

Weeds -- Fields must be free of any prohibited noxious weeds. Restricted noxious weeds and common weeds difficult to separate must be controlled. Prohibited and Restricted noxious weeds are listed in the California Seed Law/CA Code of Regulations/Sections 3854 and 3855. See California Seed Law - Prohibited and Restricted Noxious Weed List.

Fields may be refused Quality Assurance due to unsatisfactory appearance caused by weeds, poor growth, poor stand, disease, insect damage, and any other condition which prevents accurate inspection or creates doubt as to identity of the germplasm entity.

3. Seed Standards

	Standards	for each	Class
	QA1	QA2	QA3
Pure Seed (minimum)
Wheat, Barley, Rye, Triticale, Buckwheat	-	96.00%	96.00%
Oats	-	98.00%	98.00%
Inert matter (maximum)
Wheat, Barley, Rye, Triticale, Buckwheat*	-	4.00%	4.00%
Oats	-	2.00%	2.00%
Objectionable weeds (maximum)**	None	None	None
Total other crop seeds (maximum)
Wheat, Barley, Rye, Triticale, Buckwheat, Oats	0.06%	0.12%	0.25%
Oats	0.21%	0.32%	0.55%
Other varieties (maximum)
Wheat, Barley, Rye, Triticale, Buckwheat	0.05%	0.10%	0.20%
Oats	0.20%	0.30%	0.50%
Other kinds (maximum)***	0.01%	0.02%	0.05%
Germination (minimum)
Wheat, Oats, Barley, Tiriticale	-	85.00%	85.00%
Rye	-	80.00%	80.00%
Buckwheat	-	70.00%	70.00%
Diseases****	********	********	********

*Wheat, barley, rye, triticale, or buckwheat shall not contain more than two percent inert matter other than broken seed.

**Objectionable weeds are designated by the CCIA.

***For other small grains the maximum of one per pound in QA1, two per pound in QA2, and five per pound in QA3 must not be exceeded.

****If chemically controllable, seed-borne diseases are noted upon field inspection or laboratory observation, seed treatment is recommended.