Plant Industries
Serving the citizens of Arkansas and the agricultural and business communities by providing information and unbiased enforcement of laws and regulations set by the Arkansas State Plant Board
Resources
Seed Certification
Seed Laboratory
Seed Regulatory
- AASCO Home Page
- USDA Plant Variety Protection Office
- USDA Plant Variety Protection Office Crop Status Database
- USDA Seed Regulatory and Testing Branch
Rice Genetically-Modified Organism (GMO) Testing
1. Contact Meredith Martinez at the Arkansas Department of Agriculture (Department) to have your seed sampled for testing – (All seed used for planting in 2022 shall undergo testing prior to April 1, 2022). Any carryover seed that is not in a sealed bag will have to be sampled & tested before used for planting in 2022.
2. If you have bins of seed tested for Liberty Link that will be divided into sub-lots, provide the sub-lot information (lot #, size in bushels or bags and bag weight) to James Chastain in the Seed Section. Also, if you have combined any bin lots to produce a larger final lot, please provide that information. Also, please let us know if you do not plan to sub-lot or combine bins for new lots.
3. The Seed Section will issue a “Seed Sample Validation Report” showing the seed in the lot has been tested and meets all the requirements of the regulations passed by the Arkansas State Plant Board under Act 1238 of 2005 – relating to Rice identified as having Characteristics of Commercial Impact.
4. This “Seed Sample Validation Report” should be given to each purchaser of the seed attached to the invoice, so the purchaser will have the documentation needed for delivery of his grain to first points of delivery in the 2022 milling year. The seedsman is responsible for keeping records for the disposition of the lot of seed. Retailers who purchase portions of a lot and sell to farmers are required to keep accurate records for the distribution of the lot to purchasers.
5. Seedsmen or individuals who purchase seed from out-of-state will need to obtain documentation showing the seed has been sampled by the other state’s official seed sampling personnel or by the Department inspectors, tested by a Department approved GMO rice testing laboratory, and meets the requirements of the regulations under Act 1238 of 2005. Copies of this documentation should be supplied to the Plant Board before the seed is sold or planted. If this seed is sold, the purchaser will also need to receive a Seed Sample Validation Report to have the documentation required by the mills.
6. Bulk Transfers between seedsmen in the Certification Program are another challenge for keeping up with lot numbers that track to a certain LL test. If you have received rice seed on a Certification Bulk Transfer, please notify James Chastain the lot numbers you have assigned this seed. For example, if you receive 2,000 bushels out of Lot Bin 13 from ABC Seed Company, and you re-assign your lot number XYZ 123 to this seed, you will need to supply the Certification Office with this information, so we can issue the Sample Validation Report on your lot and have records that tie your XYZ 123 lot to the original LL Test results on Bin 13 sampled at ABC Seed Company.
Questions?
Contact us: regulatoryseed@agriculture.arkansas.gov
