Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8434 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2016 34 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2016 STORAGE & HANDLING Build Customer Confidence with SOPs Reputation is everything. Deals are still made on a handshake and when you say that you will deliver 500 units of wheat seed, the expectation is that you will deliver 500 units of wheat seed. However, if that seed does not meet expectations, you likely won’t get a second chance. One area that you can improve is making sure your seed is clean and free of contamination. Delivering clean seed on time is one of the biggest impressions you can make. We know you are dealing with a number of different seed crops, and that seed must be moved from bin to bin or from bin to a seed treater. There are many moving parts and the process can be quite complex, or quite simple if you have the right standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place. Some view SOPs as unnecessary paperwork or scrupulous management, but SOPs are actually a form of risk man- agement and can improve efficiencies. SOPs are best suited for repetitive tasks PRODUCT MANAGER, CONVEYORS AND AUGERS, MERIDIAN MANUFACTURING cthiessen@meridianmfg.com @MeridianConvey MeridianMfg.com CHAD THIESSEN and can help to minimize any differences in end product when working across multiple locations. While every SOP is dif- ferent, here are a few tips that can help you get started in developing an SOP for delivering clean, quality seed. First, watch another person perform the task at hand and then document the steps involved. After you have a draft, ask another employee who performs that task to review. Review regulatory requirements that might impact how the task is performed. Research peers who have implemented best management practices in this area. Implement SOPs and get documentation in place. Ask an expert to do a “test drive.” He should be looking for: a) evidence that the written SOPs minimize incidence of contamination; b) visual evidence that the SOPs are being followed; and c) evidence that SOPs have been taking place. Once you have your SOPs documented, refined and audited, they need to be stored in an accessible place. While SOPs might seem cumbersome, making sure you have the right systems in place can eliminate the chance of contamination. Farmers expect their seed to be uniform and of high quality. Make sure you’re meeting expectations and building a solid reputation with each delivery — your business depends on it. SOFTWARE & DATA MANAGEMENT Don’t Settle for Less Turf and forage breeding is big business. The turf industry is high profile with sports fields, golf courses and home lawns. Meanwhile, for- ages don’t get near the support in terms of funding, but it’s just as important for grazing livestock, land rehabilitation and reclamation, as well as conservation and habitat. But due to the biology of these crops, plant breeders have very different needs when it comes to research data manage- ment. Forage breeders have a very differ- ent structure and approach. Unlike their annual crop counterparts, forage breeders need to research, evaluate and record data across multiple cuttings and years. Too often breeders are forced to work within existing software programs not made for research across multiple years. They manually construct new experiment designs or use makeshift tactics to get by. Think: If you could take any experimen- tal design and with one click expand it out three or five years. Not only that, but when you analyze the data, all the means are AGRONOMIX PRESIDENT, CEO AND FOUNDER Mulitze@Agronomix.com Agronomix.com DIETER MULITZE stored for every location and every year. You can see all the trial data from all years across all locations with all traits. If you want to see all the data for one or more years, or trait A for three years across all locations, it’s nearly impossible in Excel. To do what you need to do as efficiently as possible, you need a highly connected database that relates to the practical realities of a breeder. In other words, software has to be built around the way plant breeders work and conduct variety trials. If I’m taking data on individual plants, I want to score plants I select within a population. I should be able to expand the data structure for as many or as few plants as I want. Let’s say I’m working on stem rust and have a plant population of 5,000. I want to see the average score of all my plants. Being able to see that my population averages a 2 is much better than a 7 or 8. This saves me time and allows me to build a selection index. I now know which plants or populations to focus on. The data has to be highly interconnected in a meaningful way, so that you as a breeder can pull out the information needed. What exactly do I mean by this? Years, locations, experiments and traits should all connected to a genotype. Then I can search by genotype or I can search all the data for a given trait, or all the data for a given year. To do that, every- thing has to be highly connected. Are you settling for something less?