1. The US Landscape of Organic and Ecological Seed
Micaela Colley
Program Director, Organic Seed Alliance

2. ORGANIC FARMS
“...The producer must use organically
grown seeds...except...non- organically
produced, untreated seeds and
planting stock may be used to produce
an organic crop when an equivalent
organically produced variety is not
commercially available” (§ 205.204).
Seed
ORGANIC
REGULATIONS

3. Measuring progress in increasing the availability, quality, and
integrity of organic seed available to US farmers
Authors:
Kristina Hubbard
Jared Zystro
State of Organic Seed
www.sta teo fo r g a n i cseed .o r g

4. www.sta teo fo r g a n i cseed .o r g
Using organic seed for all acreage: 27% (20% in 2011)
Increased use over last three years: 31%
State of Organic Seed

5. www.sta teo fo r g a n i cseed .o r g
% ORGANIC SEED USED BY CROP TYPE – 2009 VS 2014

6. www.sta teo fo r g a n i cseed .o r g
ORGANIC SEED USE RELATED TO FARM SIZE

7. www.sta teo fo r g a n i cseed .o r g
INVESTMENTS IN PUBLIC ORGANIC PLANT BREEDING

8. PUBLIC ORGANIC PLANT BREEDING

9. STUDENT ORGANIC SEED SYMPOSIUM
(SOSS) AND SOCIETY OF ORGANIC SEED
PROFESSIONALS
www.soseeds.org

10. RESEARCH ADVANCEMENT ADDRESSING
ORGANIC PLANT BREEDING
Weeds: vigor, early establishment,
architecture for mechanical control
Fertility: nutrient use efficiency,
optimum root architecture, early
vigor, plant-soil microbial
interactions
Pest and Disease: resistance,
tolerance, genetic diversity
Environmental variability:
robustness, yield stability,
flexibility

11. NETWORKS FOR PARTICIPATORY AND
INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION

12. SEED AND VARIETY TESTING

13. PARTICIPATORY PLANT BREEDING

14. PARTICIPATORY SWEET CORN BREEDING

15. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES

16. ORGANIC SEED GROWERS
CONFERENCE

18. FOOD AND SEED TRENDSü PRIORTY ON FLAVOR AND
NUTRTION
ü HEALTHY FOOD IN
HEALTHCARE/SCHOOLS/
INSTITUTIONS
ü LOCAL/REGIONAL/SEASONAL
ü DIVERSITY/UNIQUENESS
ü CULTURAL PRESERVATION
ü AUTHENTICITY

19. Learn more:
www.seedalliance.org
Thank you to the full staff and board of Organic Seed Alliance
Micaela@seedalliance.org