The Arkansas Department of Agriculture's Seed Section provides a service to the public for the maintenance and increase of quality seed. This is provided to insure varietal purity and seed quality by reviewing and retaining crop production records and through a series of field and laboratory inspections. The traditional method for providing this has been through our Seed Certification program. However, the agency also offered some new programs to meet the changing needs of the seed industry.

Identity Preserved / Quality Assurance is part of a trend in seed certification that is outside the traditional certification program. It can involve adding value by maintaining the identity of a product through production, processing and/or marketing channels or simply providing inspections for quality control for variety, weeds, etc. It provides a uniform, unbiased system for producing and marketing seed. Each program is tailored to the needs of the company involved and fees are set according to the complexity and time needed for the required inspections.

If you need assistance in assuring the quality of your seed production, the Seed Section Staff and Inspection Staff are available for the following services:

• Field Inspections for weeds, other crops and varietal purity (including flowering inspections for soybeans)
• Inspection forms / Application forms tailored to company's needs
• Representative Sampling of each seed lot
• Laboratory evaluation of each seed lot for warm germination, purity, noxious weeds and varietal purity (vigor testing available for cotton, wheat, soybeans, garden beans)
• Roundup Ready® Soybean Field Inspections (after herbicide application and prior to harvest)
• Laboratory evaluation to verify the presence of the Roundup Ready® gene (only available for companies who have their own RR variety)
• Labeling with analysis information

To request any of these services, please contact the Plant Board Seed Division, complete the application for Identity Preserved / Quality Assurance services (listed below) and return as soon after planting as possible. Please note there are application deadlines in order to perform these various services. If you have not previously used any of these services, some processing time will be required to determine needs and develop individual programs. 

• Quality Assurance QA Form 17 (88.77 KB)