Rick Vierling, director of Indiana Crop Improvement Association's Genetics Lab and a Purdue University agronomist, worked with Bruce Craig, a Purdue statistics professor, to develop the system. Vierling says it will allow food manufacturers to track any value-added trait from field to final product. This is an opportunity for producers looking for ways to add income or enter the value-added market. The two researchers designed the software and the system to track the purity of genetic traits in loads of grain. You also rely on lab tests run on the seed before planting and grain at harvest.
Software estimates purity for the trait in question.
Crop improvement organizations in many states are gearing up to operate the Vierling-Craig tracking system. If you relied solely on lab testing, the cost would be higher than the value of the product. We're combining field purity data and laboratory results in a compromise that keeps costs down. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed for research and educational purposes only.