Here’s why you should.
Seed testing is technical and requires special expertise. According to Morgan Webb, president of Alberta’s Seed Check Technologies, this can often cause labs to keep their processes behind-the-scenes, out of fear that clients might not understand it or that it’s simply not worth their time to bother them with the technical stuff.
This is wrong. A testing lab should give you a front-row seat because:
You should know what you’re paying for. When you buy seed testing services, you’re buying the knowledge of the people who work there. Seed Check is Your Seed Lab. “We think of ourselves as our clients’ employees and we work for them, and that’s how we help them make the best decisions they can possibly make,” Webb says.
You should know what the lab is capable of. “We send the test results right to the customer via email, and we can add notes that might not go on a standard seed testing report. We can send them pics of their seedlings. We can send them photos of the size and shape of the seed to compare the crop kind so they can do a better job of cleaning their seed and getting the best product out to market. That counts for a lot. It helps them get up close and personal with their seed, and we can work with them more effectively that way.”
You should know the lab cares about you. “We encourage people do to training sessions with us. We have them in for workshops to see what we do. The best example is people dealing with grasses or small seeded crop kinds — the client can get an idea of how we measure seed for them (height, width, density, texture, colour), so they know how to get their seed cleaning equipment just right.”
You should trust the lab and its staff. People with experience with seed testing technology are rare. Keeping them doing this important work is a huge asset, Webb says. “We have an extremely low staff turnaround. Our experts are a family and want to work here. It’s a great thing. We are proud to have this team that gets along so well and loves their work, and that makes a difference to the client.”
Visit seedcheck.net for more info!
