b'CSAAC / SEEDANALYSTS.CA / WE PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE SEED BUSINESSITS NEARLY TIME TO VOTEDO YOU KNOW ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CSAAC?WERE WELL INTO 2020, and that means the Seed Synergyseed certification system. Pedigreed Collaboration Project is coming to a head. seed lots cant be sold without a This is the year that our industry associations willreport of analysis from an accredited vote on the proposal to form a single National Seedseed lab signed by an accredited seed Organization (NSO). Ratification packages will be goinganalyst. out soon, and Im proud to say that the Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada will be the first to vote atMYTH: All accredited seed analysts in our AGM on May 27. Canada are members of CSAAC and Its exciting to be the first group to vote on somethingparticipate in continuing education KRISTA ERICKSON,thats been in the works for many years. As we take aprograms.CSAAC Executivebold step toward ushering in a new era, I wanted to takeFACT: Once analysts become accred-Director the opportunity to say how happy we are as an organiza- ited by the CFIA they are not tion to potentially join together with the other groups thatrequired to become a member of a make up the seed sector.professional association and are not CSAAC has a long history. We were formed in 1944 byrequired to partake in any sort of six seed analysts working in the private sector. The goalscontinuing education program. All of at the time were uniformity, education, keeping up withCSAACs analysts voluntarily choose new technologies and cooperating with regulators. Theto join our association to ensure that founding members were all women, a trend that contin- they stay up to date on rules and reg-ues todaya full three-quarters of our members areulations and they adhere to CSAACs female.mandatory continuing education For many of us, this is a family affair. My mother,requirements. This shows that when Marie Greeniaus, was a longtime seed analyst. CSAACsyou see the CSAAC Seal on your Outstanding Achievement Award is named after her. Shereport of analysis that the laboratory always said Id be a seed analyst. I never believed her, butwhich issued it is going above and here I am. In other words, seed analysts are a tight-knitbeyond accreditation requirements. group, and thats reflected in the way CSAAC operates.These analysts and the laboratories As the Seed Synergy project comes to a head and we arethat they work in know that ongoing about to vote on the NSO proposal, I want to use thistraining is crucial. months space to clear up some myths about CSAAC. Were here to serve the growers and the trade and help them with MYTH: CSAAC gets financial support from seed growerstheir businesses, and I believe the and the seed trade.formation of the NSO will only allow FACT: We are entirely self-funded. We do not charge anyus to do this better. As part of the fees to the seed industry. We are funded from analystNSO design, CSAAC will perform member fees which are paid by the labs they work for.vital functions under the Member & These fees are not passed along to other industry groups.Client Services and Seed Certification We do receive some money from sponsorships for ourcategories, offering professional AGM and workshop from laboratories, companies anddevelopment and training as well as associations that choose to support us.science support.I look forward to reporting on the MYTH: CSAAC is a small outdated group that doesntresults of our NSO ratification vote in really have a purpose anymore. the July print edition. Stay tuned!FACT: While we are indeed small with less than 100 indi-vidual members, we are the quality control for the whole 8GERMINATION.CAMARCH 2020'