b'SEED HEALTH AND TESTINGInside Our Push to Connect Lab Results With Field PerformanceMOSES PALMER Business Development Manager, 20/20 Seed LabsMoses@2020seedlabs.ca2020seedlabs.ca FOR MORE THAN30 years, 20/20 Seed Labs has been a leaderand field transforms testing from a static result into action-in seed diagnostics in Canada, pioneering advances that giveable insight.growers the clarity they need to make better decisions. ButField trials also allow us to respond directly to grower recently, weve taken a bold step forwardexpanding beyondfeedback. After hearing concerns about mechanical damage the lab and into field trials. This evolution is driven by a simplein large-seed crops, we took samples rated low in the lab truth: the answers growers need often lie beyond the Petri dish. into a greenhouse, and later into a field trial. We observed In the lab, many tests are necessarily constrained by timegrowth beyond initial expectations, producing data that can and space. Take Canadian germination testing, for example influence how testing is standardized. That is powerfulit most analyses run for a maximum of about 14 days. But plantsmeans our diagnostics are not just accurate in theory but dont stop growing in the real world after two weeks. We beganvalidated in the field.to ask ourselves: what happens if we extend those observations?Field trials are the next chapter in our legacya step What more can we learn by following growth in the field? toward integrating lab science with field reality so we can That question became a strategic turning point. Our firstdeliver the answers growers truly need.field trial projects grew from the need to bridge lab diagnos-tics with real-world performance. One example is bacterial leaf streak. We developed a lab test to detect it quickly, butHow do field trial results makegrowers then wanted to understand what a positive resultfor better testing? Find out by scanning really meant in the field. Partnering with AAFC Lacombe,the QR code!we designed trials to correlate lab results with disease severity under real conditions. This kind of connection between lab COLOUR SORTERSHow the Best Seed Plants Really Get BuiltMARK METCALFE President, Nexeedrcockerline@nexeed.canexeed.ca @NexeedIncIF THERES ONEthing Ive learned after years of working on seed The Coordination Trap. People ask me all the time how plants, its this: most projects dont fail because of the wrongprojects go seamlessly. The truth is, they dont. There are equipment. They fail long before thatat the planning stage. always hiccups. The secret is experiencenot just ours, but The real inside story is that early conversations matter morethe network of engineers, electricians, contractors, and automa-than anything else. A rough sketch on a napkin can evolve intotion experts whove been through these jobs before. a great plant if the questions behind it are solid: What are your Why Local Presence Still Matters. I know we live in a goals? Where do you see your capacity five years from now?digital age, but heres something you cant Zoom: standing with How do you want your seed quality measured? Those conversa- a processor on their site, looking at a piece of equipment, and tions steer everything that follows. solving the problem in real time.The Hidden Pitfall: Assuming Bigger Means Better. Theres The Best Education Isnt in a Classroom. Start with your huge pressure in todays market for bigger plants with moreneighbours. Visit plants. Ask what they regret and what they throughput. Heres the part people dont always see: scaling uplike. Ask what theyd never do again. Thats where the real can undermine seed quality if you dont obsess over the details.learning happens. Conveying equipment, spout lengths, discharge speedstheseThe next time you see a brand-new plant with gleaming arent glamorous topics, but they make the difference betweenequipment, remember: the real work happened months or even seed thats sale-ready and seed thats been beaten up by its ownyears before the first shovel hit the ground.plant. 3D Models Arent Just Eye Candy. On paper, a plant can look perfect, but when you spin it around in a model you start catching problems: spouts that are too close, maintenanceSeed plants dont fail on site.walkways that dont fit, equipment that wont clear the ceiling.They fail on paper. Scan to see why.Every mistake you fix in the model is one you dont have to fix on site.22 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA NOVEMBER 2025'