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Organic Seed Production Webinar Series Part 2: Trials and Selection

For the second year in a row, the Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) and the Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture (MESA) are presenting a series of six webinars on organic seed production. The webinars cover everything from planting to harvest, to the economics of seed production. The series is part of an organic seed internship program organized by OSA and MESA, but the free webinars are open to everyone. Advance registration is required--registering just once will allow you to attend all the webinars, so if you already registered for any webinar in this series, you don't need to do it again! The series will cover the same topics as the 2016 series, but whether or not you attended last year, you are welcome to join and type in questions for the presenters. Starting on May 16th, there will be one webinar on the third Tuesday of each month through October at 2PM Eastern, 1PM Central, 12PM Mountain and 11AM Pacific Time. Dates are:

  • May 16
  • June 20
  • July 18
  • August 15
  • Sept 19
  • Oct 17

Register for the 2017 Organic Seed Production Webinar Series at:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2788257417038326785

If you would prefer to watch the recordings from the 2016 series, they are available along with additional resources in at the following links:

Find out more about the organic seed internship program at https://learn.mesaprogram.org/courses/organic-seed-internship/

Schedule

Tue, May 16, 2017: Introduction and Crop Planning

  • Which crops should I grow?
  • Field planning
  • Recordkeeping

Tue, Jun 20, 2017: Trials and Selection

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.

Tue, Jul 18, 2017: 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.

Tue, Aug 15, 2017: Seed Quality, Harvesting 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.

Tue, Sep 19, 2017: Seed Cleaning and Recordkeeping

Cleaning seed can be either gratifying or frustrating depending on your knowledge, equipment, and space for handling seed. This workshop will cover the basics of cleaning wet and dry seed by hand or with small to large-scale equipment. Farmer participants will share their seed cleaning tricks, tools and facilities and engage in trouble shooting questions with participants. Tips and resources for record keeping will help ensure seed lots are in order at the end of the season and you can recall cleaning methods in future years.

Tue, Oct 17, 2017: Seed Contracting, Economics and Policy

Good business relations and management skills are critical to the success of all seed operations whether selling direct market or wholesale. Seed for wholesale is normally grown under contract with a retail seed company that will then pack and sell seeds to farmers and gardeners. Success in wholesale contracts requires assessing the costs of production and rate of return as well as building a good relationship with the contracting seed company. Join this webinar to hear from seed company representatives and a seed grower about when and how to plan for contract production and how to assess profitability. Presenters will also share perspectives on the details to consider in a contract including terms for pricing, over-production, field roguing, and seed cleaning.

Additional Resources

 

Funding for this program is provided by the USDA Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.



http://articles.extension.org/...eries-2017

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The Extension Foundation was formed in 2006 by Extension Directors and Administrators. Today, the Foundation partners with Cooperative Extension through liaison roles and a formal plan of work with the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) to increase system capacity while providing programmatic services, and helping Extension programs scale and investigate new methods and models for implementing programs. The Foundation provides professional development to Cooperative Extension professionals and offers exclusive services to its members. In 2020 and 2021, the Extension Foundation has awarded 85% of its direct funding back to the Cooperative Extension System, 100% of funds are used to support Cooperative Extension initiatives. 

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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