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Higher Standards For Seed Corn Quality
Seed corn that carries Canada's 'blue-tag' certification is internationally recognized for its superior quality.
Indeed, quality is the focus for all stakeholders - growers, processors, regulatory groups, and the Seed
Corn Growers of Ontario (SCGO).
Canadian Seed Corn Standards
In Canada, development and enforcement of seed corn purity and quality standards is the responsibility of a
network of private and public bodies. A federal agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), is responsible for designating production and grading standards for seed corn, which it sets in consultation with industry. CFIA is ultimately responsible for ensuring that seed corn production is inspected and conforms to those
standards, such as adhering to minimum isolation distances.
The Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA) represents Canadian seed companies and is committed to Canada's superior seed quality standards through continued research, development, distribution and
trading of seed and associated technologies. The industry-funded Canadian Seed Institute is responsible for inspection at the processing level, including seed testing lab accreditation.
The Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA) is the Canadian equivalent of the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA) in the U.S. Its membership includes companies which contract seed corn production. The CSGA has been the sole seed certifying agency in Canada since 1904.
Together, CFIA, CSTA, CSI and the CSGA are mandated to work with seed processors and the
SCGO to foster quality standards that will protect and enhance Canada's reputation for unsurpassed seed quality.
Isolation Standards
Canada has earned a solid reputation for producing seed corn that meets purity standards that are more
stringent than those in the U.S. This is due to a combination of internal standards that are enforced
by individual companies as well as regulatory requirements that cover, for example, isolation distances and detasselling procedures.
Isolation standards in Canada are more stringent than those required by AOSCA (Table 1). In the U.S., the
state of Michigan probably comes closest to mirroring Canadian isolation distances.
With the available land base in southwestern Ontario, isolation compliance is easier, which is increasingly
important with the development of new hybrid corn traits. Meeting isolation specifications requires
neighbour communication on crop planning and rotation synchronization right up to plant pollination.
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