SOUTH DAKOTA SEED CERTIFICATION STANDARDS

Tree and Shrub

Seed and Plant Certification
(In Addition to the General Standards listed on the Standard's Home Page)

I. The Purpose of Seed and Plant Certification
The purpose of seed and plant certification is to maintain and make available to the public high quality seed, seedlings, cuttings, and other propagating materials so produced, handled and distributed as to insure proper identity and genetic purity.

II. Eligibility Requirements for Certification of Tree and Shrub Varieties and Species
Only those varieties and species that are accepted by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and/or the State Seed Certification Board will be eligible for certification. Application forms for acceptance of privately developed varieties are available from the Horticulture-Forestry Landscape and Parks Department, South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station.

III. Categories of Certified Tree Seed
Three classes of seed shall be recognized, i.e., Certified, Selected and Source-Identified.
A. Certified seed (blue tag) shall be seed of known genetic identity obtained from trees of proven genetic superiority as defined by the Agricultural Experiment Station.

B. Selected seed (green tag) shall be seed from rigidly selected trees, shrubs or stands that have promise of genetic superiority but that have not been progeny tested.

C. Source-Identified seed (yellow tag) may be seed from (a) natural stands with geographic origin known and (b) plantations or shelterbelts of known origin.

IV. Handling the Crop Prior to Inspection
Roguing of off-type plants, objectionable crop plants, and weeds is required prior to field inspection and will be the responsibility of the grower.

V. Establishing the Source of Seed
A. In those cases where the seed planted for the production of Foundation, Registered or Certified seed is obtained from another party, evidence such as a certification tag, sales record, etc. must be submitted to the certifying agency to establish source of seed.

B. The exact geographic source of the parent trees by legal description and the stand history must be known.

VI. Samples and Sampling of Seed
A representative sample of each lot of seed as it is offered for sale shall be taken.

VII. Seed House Inspection of Seed
Inspection of harvested lots of tree seed may be made at any time and any lot not properly protected from mixture may be rejected.

VIII. Field Standards
A. All classes must be inspected at least once prior to use as a seed source.

B. Source-Identified seed cannot be collected from irrigated areas unless predetermined to be of proven origin.

C. Seed Trees
1. Minimum isolation distances will be construed to refer to only genetically related species.

A minimum isolation radial distance of 500 feet will be required except for elm which will be 80 rods.

2. Seed trees must be true to type and must possess desirable qualities of growth, form and vigor. Off-type plants must be removed.

3. Fruit shall be collected from the trees or by tree bagging methods.

4. Fruit collecting and seed cleaning shall be under the supervision of the Seed Certification Service.

D. Planting Stock
1. Seedling and transplant stock shall have isolation sufficient to prevent mechanical mixture.

2. All distinct off-type plants or other species shall be rogued out prior to inspection.

IX. Grade Standards
Planting Stock
A. Standard nursery bundles properly tagged as to name and nursery grade shall be used.

B. A minimum viability of 98% at time of last inspection as determined by cutting and other tests is required.

X. Disease Standards
Varieties having specific disease standards shall be inspected for disease reaction at appropriate times for accurate readings.

Web page last modified on March 06, 2000 by Kay Ruden.