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 76SEPTEMBER 2016 SEEDWORLD.COM / 35 PRODUCTION SERVICES Does Your Pizza Order Result in More Information than Your Seed Supply Order? I have to confess … my wife and I order pizza online from Domino’s more than the aver- age household. In doing this, we use the pizza tracker to know when our order has been put into the oven and exactly when it leaves the store for our house. This way, we can relax for as long as possible and still be ready at the door the second the pizza arrives. Efficiency at its finest! In doing this a few years ago, it struck me that there was a higher level of transparency in ordering a $20 pizza for delivery than almost all companies have of their seed production supply, which is a company’s lifeline. This inspired me to fundamentally change the way we communicate seed production information. In 2012, we launched our proprietary app MySupply LIVE. Rather than collect field reports, production activities and weather data on paper or disconnected tracking programs, we built a comprehensive system in which every single field activity and data point is GRO ALLIANCE PRESIDENT @jim_schweigert GroAlliance.com JIM SCHWEIGERT collected by an iPhone and viewable on an iPad in real-time, right from the field. This puts the data collected by our field scouts, growers, contractors and employees directly into the hands that need it most. Throughout this process, we’ve found that access to real- time data allows for better and more timely decision-making. For example, we use historical GDU accumulation to project multiple activity dates for seed corn. By seeing how the crop is progressing, either faster or slower than average, users can look at the weather forecast for pollination. Furthermore, during pollination, users can see the silking and shedding percentages each day, giving them a better idea of yield potential in July. When we conduct yield estimates, we share ear count, kernel rows and length in addition to yield. Also included are photos of the ears we analyzed, so our clients see exactly what they are getting a month or more before harvest. With all the advances in communication technology and precision agriculture, it’s alarming that so many companies are collecting and reporting their seed production status the same way they did decades ago. The data each field comprises is too important to rely just on paper notes or someone visiting the field a couple times to check and “make sure things are OK.” Your seed is too important to not know what is happening on a day-to-day basis. SEED QUALITY & TESTING Seed Testing Ensures Quality Seed Seed testing plays a pivotal role in helping meet market demand for clean and healthy seed, both domestically and internationally. Our test methods are used to provide phytosanitary information for the international trade of seed and quality information on seed lots for domestic sales. Here, we’ll focus on current and future seed health testing and why it’s important to the seed trade. The U.S. domestic seed market has very high quality standards that encompass many factors. Seed health is one of those factors that has become more important with each year that passes and each new seed-borne disease that rears up. The increasing emphasis on seed health has impacted not only the amount of seed health testing that is done by companies, but also has reached into production practices for commercial seed, stock seed, foundation seed and even breeder seed. In evaluating their seed production systems, companies are looking at the EUROFINS BIODIAGNOSTICS MYCOLOGY PROGRAM SUPERVISOR LorenaDean@eurofinsus.com EurofinsUS.com/biodiagnostics LORENA DEAN environment, the crop and the pathogens of concern. Best production practices include, but are not limited to, crop rotation, scouting, using resistant varieties and seed testing. It is well documented that seed can be the primary inoculum source for a disease in the field. There are two main seed testing approaches for target pathogens, traditional and molecular. Traditional methods have been reliable and generally show the physical presence of the pathogen either by its characteristic structures or through pathogenicity and are thus referred to as direct methods. However, they can lack sensitivity, the ability to detect low levels of the pathogen in a seed sample. Molecular methods are more sensitive but are indirect methods, meaning they do not generate a biological isolate or prove pathogenicity. For traditional plant pathologists, this can be a concern. An example of a molecular method is PCR testing. All of the current seed health testing methods, whether traditional or molecular, have pros and cons, but the direction of testing procedures in the future is going toward more sensitive and robust testing methods, reducing the time for testing as well as the cost per test without compromising the accuracy of the result. This remains our mission for seed health professionals for the future.