WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Indiana State Seed Laboratory, responsible for testing commercial crop seed sold in the state, is turning 100 years old in 2021.

The lab is housed in the Office of Indiana State Chemist (OISC). It tests 2,500-3,000 seed samples annually for noxious weeds, purity and germination rates.

The state’s seed law and the lab were created after some sellers were discovered offering seed with a lot of weeds in it, said Don Robison, seed administrator. The seed law sets labeling requirements for identification, purity and viability. Every state has a seed law but not every state has a state lab, he said. Indiana and 37 other states have seed labs. The remaining states use private labs for testing.

“The classification of professional seed sellers started 20-30 years before the seed lab began,” Robison explained. “In Indiana, anyone could sell any kind of seed and get away with it.”

Seeds are tested following guidelines established by the Association of Official Seed Analysts.

The lab tests seed from corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, barley, vegetables and grasses, said Jessica McVay, lab coordinator. The lab will also test flowers and other seeds sent to it. If a problem is found, the sample is retested, she noted. If the retest finds the same issue, violation notices are sent out.

Sellers have 30 days to correct the violations. The lab may issue a stop sale order if the seller is in violation of the seed law due to having an expired germination test, an improper or missing label or they don’t have a seed permit. The seller has 15 days to respond to a stop sale order. The lab will work with companies as long as they are making progress toward a compliant seed, Robison said.

The lab gives sellers the opportunity to change a label to reflect, for example, a lower germination rate, he stated. “There’s a lot of incentive for a seller to fix the label right away. Their incentive is they can still sell their seed. If a prohibited noxious weed seed is found, the lot automatically fails. We will do a third test if the seed has been cleaned and the seed distributor believes it is ready for sale. Depending on the value of the seed, it may be thrown away if prohibited noxious weed seeds are found.”

The lab has been conducting more tests on cover crop seed over the last five years, Robison said. “Earlier, we had problems with some cover crop seed, especially rye. It was grown by farmers and had a lot of weeds and poor germination.”

Some hemp seed sold to Hoosier farmers also had germination issues, he noted. “The biggest issue was the seed sellers weren’t familiar with the seed laws. They aren’t professional seed sellers. We had to do a lot of education. The seed has to be tested, it has to be labeled properly. The label has to be on the bag. This is where the seed law is equal for everybody, whether you know what you’re doing or not.”

Seeds to be tested are sent to the lab by OISC investigators who randomly visit sellers across the state. They pull bags of seed based on the amount of seed in stock – five bags plus 10 percent of the entire lot. Seed companies and farmers may also request their seed be tested. “We get professional bags of seed and we get it in coffee cans and panty hose,” McVay said. “There isn’t a charge for seed randomly pulled from sellers but we do charge for testing on seed sent to us.”

The turnaround time for results is generally two-three weeks, though that is dependent on the amount of time it takes for seeds to germinate, she said. The lab charges $6 per sample for a germination test and $10 per sample for a complete test.

Indiana has 200-300 permitted seed sellers. Nearly all are sampled annually, Robison said.

The lab has five employees – Robison, an administrative assistant and three analysts, including McVay. The seven inspectors work for OISC.

“Each of our analysts is certified and has gone through rigorous testing,” Robison said. “Most labs will have one certified analyst but not all. In our lab, everybody is certified in germination; two of the three are certified in purity. I’m very proud of our analysts. They’re very good at what they do.”