Seed Conditioner Advisory Committee
9:00 to 11:00 AM, Wednesday December 12, 2007
Santiam River room, Salem Conference Center, Salem Oregon
1.
Nineteenth annual meeting of the Oregon Seed Certification Seed Conditioners
Advisory Committee called to order at 9:07 AM by chair, Jim Steinke. Other
members in attendance were, Dan Curry, Adriel Garay, Phil Hawkins, Dennis
Lundeen, Iraj Motazedian, Jerry Mullen, Ron Pence for James Cramer, Jessie
Peters, Jake Stockfleth, and Bill Young. Members absent were, Gary Banowetz,
Hubert Christensen, Mike Coon, Brad Holliday, Russ Karow, Jeff Martin, Mark
Mellbye, and Bill Teeter. Guests in attendance were, Randy Black, Terry Burr,
Skip Coville, Sharon Davidson, Tamara Fowler, Leslie Gilmore, Randy Knight,
Virginia Lehman, Jeff McMorran, Oscar Gutbrod, Brian Parker, Barry Schrumpf,
Tom Silberstein, Sandy Smith, Dave Turner, Dan Walters, and John Zielinski.
2. Minutes of December12, 2006 meeting mailed previously. Jerry moved and
Dennis seconded a motion to accept the minutes. Motion passed.
3. Regarding the OECD lot size increase from 22,000 to 55000 Pounds, Dan Curry
informed the committee that ISTA is accepting experimental data about lot
uniformity to allow the participating companies to ship OECD lots in 55000
Pounds. Companies interested can contact Dan for details.
4. Skip Coville presented the following section of the Federal Seed Act:
Section 201.2(z) of the Federal Seed Act Regulations states:
"Processing. For the purpose of section 203(b)(2)(C) of the Act the
term "processing" means cleaning, scarifying, or blending to obtain
uniform quality, and other operations which would change the purity or
germination of seed and therefore require retesting to determine the
quality of the seed, but does not include operations such as packaging,
labeling, blending together of uniform lots of the same kind or variety
without cleaning, or the preparation of a mixture without cleaning, any
of which would not require retesting to determine the quality of the
seed."
He asked a question that if a seed lot is re-cleaned shouldn’t it be re-tested for
germination and purity both? This was discussed in length in the committee with a
final conclusion (Dennis moved and Bill second a motion) that the issue should be
presented to the Certification Committee of the Oregon Seed Trade Association.
Motion was passed that Dennis would present this item to that committee.
5. Dave Turner and Iraj Motazedian reported on automatic samplers in Oregon
Approved seed conditioning plants. Dave visited and checked all automatic
samplers to make sure they are working. Iraj informed the committee that Seed
Certification would like to start checking the accuracy of the samplers by
randomly hand probing a seed lot in a warehouse and comparing the purity with
automatic sampler purity. In approval of the efforts Jake moved and Bill seconded
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a motion to create a subcommittee to come up with the wordings and procedure to
make this as a regular mandate for Oregon Seed Certification. Motion was passed.
Iraj will form the subcommittee and report the outcome in the next meeting.
6.
Iraj reported to the committee that last summer he received some phone calls from
some seed growers who were concerned about a neighbor storing Certified seed
outside in piles where there was possibility of contaminations. When visited the
site, it was noticed that there were good distances between the piles. However, no
pile was labeled and the operator said that none of those lots were certification
seed lots. Since the Federal Seed Act mandates labeling all the seed lots, the
committee feels that all warehouses should be reminded to label their lots. Iraj will
inform warehouse managers.
7. Iraj reported to the committee that some companies order OECD tags and Wait for
a long time before attaching the tags. Since all the tags have “date of sealing” on
them, how long the certification sampler can hold on to those tags waiting for the
company to make its mind? Jake moved and Jerry seconded a motion that Seed
Certification should not keep tags more than one month after printing. Companies
need to request re-issue of the tags after that period. Motion was passed.
8. Dennis Lundeen, Oregon Seed Certification Services new manager, informed the
committee that Ron Cook has retired and is enjoying his time.
9. There was no time for presentation of the reports (please see attachments)
10. Mike Coon will chair the next meeting. Jake moved and Jerry seconded a motion
to nominate Phil Hawkins as vice-chair. Motion passed.
11. Jim Steinke is committee’s representative at the Certification Board meeting in
February 2008.
12. For time and place of the next meeting, the secretary will pool the members and
invite everybody.
13. Meeting adjourned at 10:55 AM.
Respectfully submitted, Thursday, January 10, 2008
Iraj Motazedian, Secretary,
cc:
Bill Boggess, Associate Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences
Dan Walters, President, Oregon Seed Trade Association
Mike Hayes, President, Oregon Seed Council
Brian Parker, President, Oregon Seed Growers League
Certification Board Members
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ATTACHMENTS:
CSS Update
December 4, 2007
The following are highlights of activities over the past months in Crop and Soil Science (CSS)
and the College of Agricultural Sciences as they affect clientele groups affiliated with CSS.
1. State Budgets – $5 million in new funds has been allocated to the statewide programs –
the Ag Experiment Station ($2.6M), Extension ($1.7M) and Forest Research Lab
($733K). $1 million of the AES and ag-related extension funds are earmarked for a
viticulture and enology center (to be coupled with a $2M donation from the wine
industry) and for a Christmas tree position. Remaining funds will be allocated using the
priority staffing process that AES has used for several years. 50+ positions have been
requested as part of a recent call for proposals. Decisions on which positions to fill are to
be made by early December. Approximately two thirds of the new Extension funds have
been allocated to programs based on the percentage share that programs have of the
existing extension budget. The remaining third will be allocated to enhance electronic
communications in extension, to aid in filling forestry and housing specialist positions
that was only partially funded through other sources. Some funds will be held back as an
emergency back stop in case federal funding for the forestry offset is not provided to
counties in a timely fashion.
2. Signature Research Centers – Funds to implement the Oregon Innovation Council’s
2007 Innovation Plan were also allocated by the Legislature. Funding was at a reduced
level from that requested. ONAMI (the Oregon Nano and Micro Technology Institute),
BEST (Bio-Economy and Sustainability Center) and a pharmaceutical innovations center
are among the groups to receive funding. A steering committee has been formed to deal
with BEST fund allocations. About $2.5M will be available in this biennium (2007-09)
for research work leading to near-term commercial application of ideas. A request for
proposal for small grants (@$40K) is to be released in late December or early January
and a RFP for larger grants (@$200K) in March. Details on these RFPs will be shared as
it becomes available.
3. Federal FY08 budgets – Congress is working on the FY08 budget. The status of grants
that have funded research in CSS - GSCSSA, STEEP, meadowfoam research, potato
variety development, barley genome mapping - are still an unknown. Clientele groups
who have been the recipient of research conducted using special grant (earmark) funds
have been active in seeking their continuation. Current word is that special grant funding
levels indicated by the House may be the levels finally approved. OSU is also beginning
the process of setting its FY09 federal agenda. Given the uncertainty of FY08 funding,
current federal special grants will again be submitted for funding.
4. Sun Grant –More than 40 proposals were submitted for Sun Grant funding. Seven were
funded. A project on the oilseed crop camelina was funded for work in OR (Wysocki PI,
Chastain and Ehrensing) , WA (Schillinger at Lind Station) and ID (Guy at Moscow). A
listing of other funded projects can be found at the Sun Grant website http://sungrant.oregonstate.edu/
5. ODA-OSU Oilseeds Project – work on the 2007-08 oilseeds project has begun. ODA
Director of Agriculture Katy Coba granted permission for three grower field trials. Trials
with Dean Freeborn and Tim VanLeeuwen have been planted with Athena canola – a
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University of Idaho, non-GMO variety – the same used last year. Small plots including
flax, camelina, canola, yellow mustard, and safflower will be planted in late-winter/early
spring.
a.
Camelina is the crop that appears to have greatest potential for use as an oilseed
feedstock across the western US. As noted under 4 above, some work on
camelina is being funded through the Sun Grant program. A $1.25M USDADOE grant for camelina work across the greater NW has been submitted with
awards to be announced in early January.
b. Willamette Biomass Processors (WBP), a new oilseed processor in western
Oregon, is contracting for camelina for 2008 production. See their website at
http://www.willamettebiomass.com/ for more information. WBP will have a
grand opening ceremony on Friday, December 14 at 1:30 pm at their newly
purchased facility – The former Dallas Coop in Rickreall. A workshop on
camelina production is to be held that morning in Rickreall.
c. Hearings on continuation of the ODA administrative rule that currently prohibits
canola production in western Oregon, Central Oregon and parts of eastern
Oregon were held the week of November 26 in Salem, Madras and LaGrande.
ODA’s decision on whether to continue the existing administrative rule should be
announced shortly. Testimony at all locations favored continuation of the
existing rules though a number of people did testify in opposition at Salem.
Those opposing indicated a strong need for management of canola and/or other
rotational crops that can be part of the biofuels industry but not cause problems
for existing industries.
6. Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies – The 2009 meeting of AOSCA will
be held in Oregon. June 26 - July 1 are the tentative dates. Tours of Oregon’s seed
industries are likely to be included as part of this meeting. Dan Curry and Dennis
Lundeen will be coordinating the meeting in cooperation with AOSCA staff. Any input
that you have regarding tours and other activities should be directed to Dan Curry.
7. Reed Barker - Dr. Reed Barker retired from the USDA-ARS effective June 30, 2007,
and currently holds a courtesy appointment in Crop and Soil Science. Dr. Barker will
continue his work on the FY 2007-08 funded grant (“Implementation of a Gene-Specific
Test for Perennial Ryegrass Purity”) he and Dr. Lol Cooper were awarded from the
Oregon Seed Council. Funding continues through June 30, 2008. Dr. Lol Cooper will
discontinue her work on this project as of December 31. Dr. Barker and another lab
technician will continue working on the project through Aug-Sept 2008. Dr. Barker will
use lab space in the Crop Science Building to complete this research. Dr. Barker is
committed to delivering a protocol for genetic testing of ryegrasses as an outcome of the
current work. Even with the change in his employment status, he is exploring options to
ensure this protocol is carried forward appropriately to the seed testing community.
Acceptance of this procedure into the seed testing rules governed by AOSA and
training/equipping of commercial seed testing laboratories are the next steps in the
development of this testing procedure.
Prepared by Russ Karow, Head, CSS
russell.s.karow@oregonstate.edu
541-737-2821
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OSU Seed Services update
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