Research Awards
Research fees are collected on several crops and the funds collected are awarded each year for research projects to improve these crops. Research grants were awarded at the June Board of Directors meeting as follows:
Alfalfa:
$42,173 - Dr. Dan Putnam and Dr. Charles Brummer for “Field Testing for Alfalfa Varieties and Alfalfa Variety Development”
Beans:
$13,365 - Michelle Leinfelder-Miles for “Improvement of Blackeye and Garbanzo bean for yield, quality, pest and disease tolerance & regional acclimation
Cotton:
$129,831 - California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association for research
Small Grains:
$85,000 - Jorge Dubcovsky for “Development of wheat varieties for California”
$35,000 - Mark Lundy for “Adapting Winter Cereals to Water-limited Production in California’s Central Valley”
$8,000 - Isabela Alicia del Blanco for “Oat Improvement for California”
$12,000 - Isabela Alicia del Blanco for “Breeding malting barley for California”
$15,000 - Joshua Hegarty for “Development of awnless triticale varieties for California”
$51,000 - Joshua Hegarty for “Small grains variety testing for California”
Minimum Fee Increase
The CCIA Board of Directors has approved an increase to the minimum fee for seed lots including rejected lots. Effective October 1, 2023 the minimum certification fee is $100.00.
Important Dates
December 18 - January 2, 2023 - CCIA offices will have limited hours due to holiday schedules
February 11-14, 2024 - Pacific Seed Association Annual Convention
February 22, 2024 - CCIA Annual Members Meeting and Board of Directors Meeting
June 13, 2024 - CCIA Board of Directors Meeting
Alfalfa and Small Grains Field Day was held in May 2023
About 125 people gathered at UC Davis for this annual field day.
CCIA sponsored a BBQ luncheon for the attendees prepared by the CCIA staff.
Staff Updates
Nicole Hostert has taken a position with California Department of Food and Agriculture as a Senior Environmental Scientist. We would like to thank her for 13 years of service. CCIA will continue to work with Nicole, as she serves on the CCIA Board of Directors representing CDFA. We wish Nicole much success in her new endeavors.
Danielle Nelson will be handling final seed certification, OECD requests and tag requests. Danielle can be reached at Dmbowman@ucdavis.edu or 530-752-0544.
Yossue Trejo has joined the CCIA field services team full time after being a part-time field inspector for CCIA in the Imperial Valley for the past three seasons. Yossue was raised in Calipatria, a small town in the Imperial Valley. He attended The University of Arizona in Tucson & Yuma, AZ where he studied Sustainable Plant Systems. Through his work and studies, he dedicated time to understanding and identifying plant species and discovered a passion for Agronomy. With this experience in weed science, he knows the impact noxious weeds have in crop production and the importance of seed certification. He hopes to further his education and pursue a Master’s degree in the near future. On his days off he enjoys exploring the surrounding area and growing crops for self-sufficiency alongside his partner and dog.
2023 Acreage Report
Seed Sampler Training Update
CCIA requires that all seed samples sent to the seed laboratories for certification purposes be sampled by certified samplers. A seed sampler program was established at CCIA about 10 years ago in cooperation with Association of American Seed Control Officials (AASCO) to train certified seed samplers on methods and equipment that are approved by AOSA (Association of Official Seed Analysts). This training should lead to uniformity in sampling of all certified seed that is produced and used in or derived from our state. More importantly, it should also lead to accurate seed test results and labels that better reflect the quality of seed in warehouses being offered for sale and/or shipment. This training workshop is intended for the Agricultural Commissioner and seed warehouse personnel that are or will be sampling seed according to the AOSA rules.
Several training workshops have been scheduled this crop year as follows:
- Santa Barbara - Nov 1 (for agriculture departments in coastal counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo staff)
- Davis – Nov 14 (for Sacramento Valley seed samplers)
- Fresno – Jan 23 (for Central Valley seed samplers)
- Imperial Valley – Feb 20 (for Imperial Valley seed samplers)
More information and registration forms will be posted at the Seed Sampler Certification Program page
https://ccia.ucdavis.edu/certification/seed-sampler-certification-program.
New features to the CCIA Website
It has been one year since CCIA has launched the new website interface; we hope everyone is enjoying the more user-friendly site. Over the last year staff has been working diligently with CCIA Programmer, James Cubbage, to improve the functionality of the database and add additional new useful features to help clients in the seed certification process.
Some of the new features include:
- Return to Client
CCIA staff has the ability to return incomplete or inaccurate field applications, seed lots, tags, and blends to the client for edits. Staff will always include the reason the request is being returned. Clients should make the required edits and re-submit to CCIA for approval.
- OECD Certificate Requests
We are excited to announce that we have an easier and more user-friendly way of requesting OECD Certificates on the website. We hope that the new changes make it more convenient and improve the OECD certificates process. Seed conditioners can now request their OECD certificates in their client account. The OECD certificate request begins with the tag request when the client selects “OECD lot.” When CCIA staff approves the tag request, the OECD Certificate is generated with a unique control number. A list of “pending” and complete OECD certificates can be found in the conditioner’s account. To review your OECD certificates, follow the steps below:
- Login into your account and select the OECD.
- On the left-hand side the status of the OECD request is marked as “Pending” or “Cert”. If the status is still in the pending phase, the conditioner can make edits to the following fields (be sure to click “update” after making any edits):
- Date Sealed
- Country
- Class of OECD
- Pounds
- Tags Requested
- When the OECD request information is accurate select “Mark Complete”. This generates a notification email to CCIA staff and OECD Certificate is ready for approval by CCIA staff.
- After CCIA staff has approved the OECD Certificate, the certificate will be available in the conditioner account for printing. The conditioner can select the “Cert” button on the OECD page and print the OECD certificate.
Please note once a certificate is “Marked Complete,” the conditioner can no longer make edits to the certificate. Please feel free to contact Danielle Nelson or Katy Soden if you have any questions regarding OECD Certificates
- Creating a New Seed Lot for seed coming into California that has been certified by another Agency
Seed conditioners can now distinguish lots of seed being brought into California for blending, or re-bagging and tagging. When creating a “New Seed Lot” select the origin of Seed “Outside California” and enter the required seed lot information such as: variety, cert year, country of origin, state of origin, certification number, lot number, lot weight, class and finally certified by another agency (this is a new field). Once all the required information has been entered click “Create.” Enter the lab results and upload the Report of Analysis and the transfer certificate or a copy of the certification tag in the supporting documentation section. The seed lot is then ready to be submitted to CCIA staff for approval. Once the SID number has been created, conditioners can proceed as normal requesting blends, tags etc.
- Audits
CCIA will be scheduling a number of seed conditioner audits over the coming winter months. Much of the certification documentation is already on the CCIA client interface and is already available to review, however, physical records that the CCIA audits include:
- Incoming weight of in-dirt seed
- Weight of clean seed after conditioning and/or screenings
- Dates of conditioning and names of individuals who are pulling the representative seed samples
- Tagging records, including serial #’s of voided tags
- Warehouse procedures (i.e. correct sampling equipment and protocol, review of clean-down procedures)
Depending on the seed conditioner and crop being handled, either 2022 or 2023 records may be requested. Please keep seed lot records easily accessible.
- Bulk Sale Certificates
This reminder is primarily for those marketing seed of rice and small grain crops. Bulk Sale Certificates are a document used in lieu of a certification tag when certified seed is being sold for planting in a non-packaged form. This document is generated by seed companies through the CCIA online portal. The Bulk Sale Certificate can only be used when selling seed, in bulk and without tags, to the final customer/grower. The Bulk Sale Certificate cannot be used when shipping seed from one seed seller to another seed seller.
- Seed Transfer Certificates
When seed is being transferred in bulk, without tags, from one seed facility to another seed facility, the facility transferring the seed must generate a seed transfer certificate though CCIA’s online portal. This is for seed being transferred within the county, to another county, or to another AOSCA agency/state. When shipping from one facility to another within California, the receiving facility may not be able to complete additional certification activities unless this transfer form is generated.
This year a feature was added to the CCIA website to limit access of seed certification activities to those companies linked to the seed. This access will be limited to those who either produced the seed or were transferred the seed. When completing an intra- or inter-county transfer certificate, please utilize the Org ID# of the customer receiving the seed so that transferee will be linked to the seed being transferred