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Organic Seed Production Six Webinar Series Part 4: Seed Quality, Harvesting and Equipment

A new six-webinar series on organic seed production will provide training for seed growers and seed production interns throughout the 2016 growing season (June - November). This series, offered by Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) and the Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture (MESA), will cover a range of topics, from planting to harvest to the economics of seed production. The series is delivered as part of a new seed internship program offered by OSA and MESA with support from the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. The free webinars are open to the public and appropriate for farmers, interns, students, and other agricultural professionals. They will take place on the third Tuesday of each month, and the first one is on June 21st! You can just register once at the link below and attend any or all of the webinars listed below!

All webinars take place at 2PM Eastern Time (1PM Central, 12PM Mountain, 11AM Pacific)

Register now at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1033801889354662914

1. June 21st: Introduction to the Organic Seed Webinar Series.

Recording available here

  • Which crops should I grow?
  • Field planning
  • Recordkeeping
  • Speakers: Micaela Colley, Organic Seed Alliance; Organic Seed Grower TBD

2. July 19th: Trials and Selection

Recording available here

Conducting on-farm variety trials is a valuable investment of time and resources to ensure you are planting the best crop, variety and stock seed source for production of your seed crop. Field selection or roguing of a seed crop throughout the production cycle can further refine and improve the quality and performance of a variety or population. This webinar will cover the basics of conducting on-farm variety trials including sourcing germplasm, field plot design, trial evaluation, and making sense of the data. Presenters will also cover basics of field selection or roguing to improve performance of open pollinated seed crops.

3. August 16th: Diseases and Pests

Management of disease and pests in seed crops can be even more critical than in food production. Seed crops may encounter disease and pests unique to the plant reproductive phase and avoidance of certain seed borne diseases is critical for seed quality. Seed crops are a long season crop, often growing over twice as long and twice the size of a food crop, requiring additional management practices to reduce pests and diseases. This webinar will cover basic field practices for avoiding diseases and pests in seed production and post harvest. Presenters will also provide guidance on prevention, testing and treatment for seed borne diseases in organic seed production.

4. September 20th: Seed Quality, Harvesting Techniques and Equipment

Deciding when and how to harvest seed can be one of the most tenuous steps that will ultimately impact the yield and quality of your seed crop. This webinar will cover basic principles for determining the optimum timing of harvest and guidance on how to harvest either by hand or with equipment. Presenters will also cover tips and tools for preliminary threshing and drying post harvest and addressing inclement weather during the harvest process.

5. October 18th: Cleaning and Recordkeeping, Case Study

6. November 15th: Seed Contracting, Economics and Policy

Additional Resources from the Organic Seed Alliance

 Seed Internship Program: June-11 2016: https://learn.mesaprogram.org/courses/organic-seed-internship/

System Requirements

Please connect to the webinar 10 minutes in advance, as the webinar program will require you to download software. To test your connection in advance, go here. You can either listen via your computer speakers or call in by phone (toll call). Java needs to be installed and working on your computer to join the webinar. If you are running Mac OSU with Safari, please test your Java at http://java.com/en/download/testjava.jsp prior to joining the webinar, and if it isn't working, try Firefox or Chrome. For more detailed system requirements, go here.


http://articles.extension.org/pages/73816

Alice Formiga (Guest)

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This technology is supported in part by New Technologies for Ag Extension (funding opportunity no. USDA-NIFA-OP-010186), grant no. 2023-41595-41325 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Extension Foundation. For more information, please visit extension.org. You can view the terms of useat extension.org/terms.

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