Anticipated issues in the U.S. during 2018 •  Invasive species/noxious weeds issues continues to be a high priority for the grower community and, subsequently, for the seed industry. •  Agricultural chemicals are a very important tool in the tool box that complements seed’s potential benefits. ASTA rec- ognizes this synergy and assists the crop protection indus- try wherever possible. • Pre-emption of local laws by state governments. •  Coexistence in general production, including crop-specific regulations. •  Potential legislation arises occasionally that would attempt to regulate crop selection by growers. Different agricultural production systems have been successfully practiced in proximity to one another for many years and in many parts of the world. No regulations are actually necessary. •  Consistency of state laws and regulations, including labeling. •  Seed production and seed marketing is consistently conducted on an interstate basis. In this regard, seed produced in one or more states by the same company is often distributed across multiple state bounda- ries. With this, seed distributors must comply with labeling requirements, testing regimes, and applica- ble standards established by the laws of each state individually. •  State regulatory infrastructure & seed lab uniformity. ASTA is committed to the support of a viable and efficient regulatory system for the seed indus- try. Per the strategic plan, it is a priority of ASTA’s policy efforts to ensure adequate funding to enable a sustainable state infrastructure to support these regulatory systems. “The seed industry must continue to effec- tively communicate to the grower community that their production systems are focused on seed quality and purity, and that they are doing all that is viable to ensure seed purity and qual- ity,” Miller says. “It is important that seed labs deliver consistent and reliable results, as they are a critical link in the seed production pro- cess.” SW 8 / SEEDWORLD.COM JANUARY 2018 “It is important that seed labs deliver consistent and reliable results, as they are a critical link in the seed production process.” — Pat Miller Pat Miller, ASTA director of state government affairs