Over the course of our seed trials we have gathered some useful resources. Check them out below!
Seed Quality Assurance & Regulations
Growing high-quality vegetable seed is crucial for seed production success. When selling seed commercially you want to ensure you understand and meet quality standards as well as seed regulations. Basic terms, protocols and regulations are explained below and the resource section will link you to further information.
Organic Certification for Seed Growers
When farmers and gardeners choose to use organic seed they are supporting a healthier environment, since pesticide regulations often allow higher applications of chemicals on non-edible crops including seed. Using organic seed reduces the chemical footprint that conventional seed production creates. By growing organic seed you are also supporting seed a seed system that is responsive to the needs of organic growers.
Seed enterprise budgets help you determine the cost of your labour and material inputs as well as potential sales revenue for seed crops. We have developed a seed enterprise budget spreadsheet base on the work of Dan Brisebois and Richard Wiswall. This spreadsheet is still in development but you can view the spreadsheet here and see it below. It was last updated on March 23, 2018.
Growing bulk volumes of seed to sell to a seed company can be an economically viable way to include seed production on your farm without the need to start your own packet sales seed company.
After talking to leading seed companies across North America we heard a resounding YES, there are many opportunities for new growers. Seed sales are growing and more local, ecological, and certified organic seed is needed. Especially for crops that grow well in BC climates.
We have developed a suite of resources to help seed growers better understand the process of growing seed on contract, what opportunities exist and how to get started.
Use our BC Seed Resources Directory to search through all of our website resource listings. Select categories to narrow your search. Know of a resource that’s missing? Let us know and we’ll add it!