This is a pedigree system for seed. Strouts explained that every year, KCIA field workers walk hundreds of miles through Kansas fields, evaluating the quality of the seed being produced for the next year s crop. It s a selection, constant purification and thinning process. KCIA inspectors typically have about five weeks to inspect wheat fields between maturation of the crop and harvest. Because of this year s mild, dry weather, however, fields matured more quickly than usual and inspectors had only about three weeks to finish before harvest, Strouts said.
Inspectors look for varietal purity, uniformity, possible contaminants, seed-borne diseases.
They also check to make sure the field is free of another crop s seeds. The association, headquartered in Manhattan on the campus of Kansas State University, was founded in 1902 and currently has about 330 grower members around the state. Some grow exclusively for seed production while others grow crops for commercial sale as well as for seed. But seed certification isn t all that KCIA is about. The research money typically goes to Kansas State University to help fund research projects.