Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 20 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND MARKETS › Sub-Agency 031 - PLANT INDUSTRY DIVISION › Chapter 019 - SEED STANDARD › Section 20 031 019 - SEED STANDARD

Current through June, 2024
Section I
			 Statutory Authority
The following seed standard regulations are hereby
				promulgated by the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets
				pursuant to the authority of 6 V.S.A. Chapter 35, subchapter 2,
				642(b) and 644(b).
Section
			 II Definitions
As used in these rules:
A. "Advertisement" means all
			 representations, other than those on the label, disseminated in any
			 manner or by any means, relating to seed within the scope of these
			 regulations.
B. "Agency"
			 means the agency of agriculture, food and markets.
C. "Agricultural Seed" includes the
			 seeds of grass, forage, cereal, oil and fiber crops and any other
			 kinds of seeds commonly recognized within this State as agricultural
			 seeds, lawn seeds and combinations of such seeds, and may include
			 noxious-weed seeds when the secretary determines that such seed is
			 being used as agricultural seed.
D. "Blend" means seed consisting of
			 more than one variety of a kind, each in excess of five percent (5%)
			 by weight of the whole.
E. "Brand" means a word, name,
			 symbol, number, or design used to identify seed of one person to
			 distinguish from seed of another person.
F. "Certifying Agency" means:
(1) An agency authorized under the
			 laws of a state, territory or possession to officially certify seed
			 and which has standards and procedures approved by the United States
			 Secretary of Agriculture to assure the genetic purity and identity of
			 the seed certified, or
(2) An agency of a foreign country
			 determined by the United States Secretary of Agriculture to adhere to
			 procedures and standards for seed certifying agencies under Section
			 II D.I.
G.
			 "Complete record" means any and all information which relates to the
			 origin, treatment, germination, purity, kind and variety of each lot
			 of agricultural seed sold in this State or which relates to the
			 treatment, germination, kind and variety of each lot of vegetable and
			 flower seed sold in this State. Such information includes: seed
			 samples and records of declarations, labels, purchases, sales,
			 conditioning, bulking, treatment, handling, storage, analyses, tests
			 and examinations.
H.
			 "Conditioning" means drying, cleaning, scarifying and other
			 operations which could change the purity or germination of the seed
			 and require the seed to be retested to determine the label
			 information.
I.
			 "Distributor" means a person who purchases, repackages and sells
			 seeds.
J. "Dormant" means
			 viable seed, excluding hard seed, which fails to germinate when
			 provided the specified germination conditions for the kind of seed in
			 question.
K. "Flower
			 Seed" includes seed of herbaceous plants grown for their blooms,
			 ornamental foliage or other ornamental parts and commonly known and
			 sold under the name of flower seed or wildflower seed.
L. "Genetically engineered (GE)
			 seed" means seed produced using a variety of methods, as identified
			 by the National Organic Program of the U.S. Department of
			 Agriculture, used to modify genetically organisms or influence their
			 growth and development by means that are not possible under natural
			 conditions or processes. Such methods include cell fusion,
			 microencapsulation and macroencapsulation, and recombinant DNA
			 technology (including gene deletion, gene doubling, introducing a
			 foreign gene, and changing the positions of genes when achieved by
			 recombinant DNA technology). Such methods do not include the use of
			 traditional breeding, conjugation, fermentation, hybridization, in
			 vitro fertilization, or tissue culture.
M. "Genetically engineered plant
			 part" means a whole plant or plant part, including scions intended
			 for planting, which contains material derived from a GE seed or is
			 itself produced using the methods described in subdivision L. of
			 these rules.
N. "Genuine
			 grower declaration" means a statement signed by the grower which
			 gives for each lot of seed the lot number, kind, variety (if known),
			 origin, weight, year of production, date of shipment and to whom the
			 shipment was made.
O.
			 "Germination" means the emergence and development from the seed
			 embryo of those essential structures which, for the kind of seed in
			 question, are indicative of the ability to produce a normal plant
			 under favorable conditions.
P. "Hard Seeds" means seeds which
			 remain hard at the end of the prescribed test period because they
			 have not absorbed water due to an impermeable seed coat.
Q. "Hermetically-Sealed Seed" means
			 the seed was packaged within 9 months after harvest, and the
			 container used does not allow water vapor penetration through any
			 wall, including the seals, greater than 0.05 grams of water per 24
			 hours per 100 square inches of surface at 1000 F. with a relative
			 humidity on one side of 90 percent and on the other side 0 percent.
			 Water vapor penetration or WVP is measured by the standards of the
			 U.S. Bureau of Standards as: gm H 2 0/24 hr./100 sq. in./1000 F./90%
			 RH V 0% RH.
R. "Home
			 Garden and Household Plantings" means the use of flower, vegetable,
			 lawn and turf, and tree and shrub seeds which are not bought and sown
			 for commercial agricultural uses.
S. "Hybrid" means the first
			 generation seed of a cross produced by controlling the pollination
			 and by combining (1) two or more inbred lines; (2) one inbred or a
			 single cross with an open pollinated variety; or (3) two varieties or
			 species, except open- pollinated varieties of corn (Zea mays). The
			 second generation of subsequent generations from such crosses shall
			 not be regarded as hybrids. Hybrid designations shall be treated as
			 variety names.
T. "Inert
			 Matter" means all matter, not seed, which includes broken seeds,
			 sterile florets, chaff, fungus bodies and stones as determined by
			 methods defined by rule or procedure adopted by the
			 Secretary.
U. "Inoculant"
			 means the organism, bacteria or virus that is deliberately mixed with
			 seed.
V. "Introduced
			 wildflower" means kinds or the types and varieties derived from those
			 kinds that are not indigenous to North America.
W. "Kind" means one or more related
			 species or subspecies which singly or collectively is known by one
			 common name, for example; corn, oats, alfalfa and timothy.
X. "Labeling" includes all tags or
			 other devices attached to, written, stamped, printed on any container
			 or accompanying any seed purporting to set forth the information
			 required on the seed label by these regulations and it may include
			 any other information relating to the labeled seed.
Y. "Lot" means a definite quantity
			 of seed identified by a lot number or other mark, every portion or
			 bag of which is uniform within recognized tolerances for the factors
			 which appear in the labeling.
Z. "Mixture", "Mix" or "Mixed"
			 means seed consisting of more than one kind, each in excess of 5% by
			 weight of the whole.
AA.
			 "Native wildflower" means kinds or the types and varieties derived
			 from those kinds that are indigenous to North America.
BB. "Noxious-Weed Seeds" are
			 defined as follows:
"Prohibited Noxious-Weed Seeds" are those seeds which
				are prohibited from being present in agricultural, vegetable, flower,
				tree, or shrub seed. They are the seeds of weeds which are highly
				destructive and difficult to control by good cultural practices and
				the use of herbicides. They include, but are not limited to, the
				seeds of field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis L.), quackgrass (Elymus
				repens (L.) Gould), Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop.),
				bedstraw (Galium spp.), serrated tussock (Nasella trichotoma (Nees)
				Hack.), and velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti Medik.).
"Restricted Noxious-Weed Seeds" are seeds which are
				very objectionable in agricultural crops, lawns and gardens of this
				state and which can be controlled by good cultural practices or the
				use of herbicides. They include, but are not limited to, the seeds of
				dodder ( Cuscuta spp.), horsenettle (Solanum carolinense L.) wild
				mustard (Brassica spp.), wild onion (Allium spp.), wild radish
				(Raphanus raphanistrum L.), perennial sowthistle (Sonchus arvensis
				L.), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.), and corncockle
				(Agrostemma githago L.).
CC. "Off-Type" means any seed or
			 plant not a part of the variety in that it deviates in one or more
			 characteristics from the variety; a seed or plant not necessarily any
			 variety; a seed or plant resulting from cross-pollination by another
			 kind of variety; a seed or plant resulting from uncontrolled self
			 pollination during production of hybrid seed; or segregates from any
			 of the other crop seed.
DD. "Persons" includes any
			 individual, partnership, corporation, company, society or
			 association, receiver, trustee or agent.
EE. "Pure live seed" means the
			 product of the percent of germination plus hard or dormant seed
			 multiplied by the percent of pure seed divided by 100. The result is
			 expressed as a whole number.
FF. "Pure Seed" means any seed
			 exclusive of inert matter and all other seeds not of the seed being
			 considered as determined by methods defined by rule.
GG. "Secretary" means the secretary
			 of agriculture, food and markets, or his or her designee.
HH. "Stop sale" means an
			 administrative order provided by law, restraining the sale, use,
			 disposition and movement of a definite amount of seed.
II. "Treated" means that the seed
			 has received an application of a substance or process which substance
			 or process is designed to reduce, control or repel certain disease
			 organisms, insects or other pests from attacking such seeds or
			 seedlings growing therefrom.
JJ. "Tree and shrub seed" includes
			 seeds of woody plants commonly known and sold as tree and shrub seeds
			 in this State.
KK. "Tree
			 seed collector's declaration" is a statement signed by a grower or
			 person having knowledge of the place of collection giving, for a lot
			 of seed, the lot number, common or scientific name of the species
			 (and subspecies, if appropriate), origin, elevation, and quantity of
			 tree and shrub seed.
LL.
			 "Type" means a group of varieties so nearly similar that the
			 individual varieties cannot be clearly differentiated except under
			 special conditions.
MM.
			 "Undesirable Grass Seeds (UGS)" are seeds of grass species declared
			 to be restricted noxious weed seed when found in lawn and turf
			 seed.
NN. "Variant" means
			 any seed or plant which (a) is distinct within the variety but occurs
			 naturally in the variety, (b) is stable and predictable with a degree
			 of reliability comparable to other varieties of the same kind, within
			 recognized tolerances, when the variety is reproduced or
			 reconstituted, and (c) was originally a part of the variety as
			 released. A variant is not an off-type.
OO. "Variety" means a subdivision
			 of a kind which is distinct, uniform, and stable; "distinct" in the
			 sense that the variety can be differentiated by one or more
			 identifiable morphological, physiological or other characteristics
			 from all other varieties of public knowledge; "uniform" in the sense
			 that variations in essential and distinctive characteristics are
			 describable, and "stable" in the sense that the variety will remain
			 unchanged in its essential and distinctive characteristics and its
			 uniformity when reproduced or reconstituted as required by the
			 different categories of varieties.
PP. "Vegetable Seeds" include the
			 seeds of those crops which are grown in gardens and on truck farms
			 and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable or herb
			 seeds.
QQ. "Weed Seeds"
			 include the seeds of all plants generally recognized as weeds within
			 this state as determined by procedure by the secretary and include
			 noxious weed seeds.