“AOSCA Troops in the Field”

By Chet Boruff
Chief Executive Officer of AOSCA

Theme- Valuable field staff members at Seed Certifying Agencies

As I prepare this article for Seed Today, I am gazing out my window at a perfect spring day that holds the promise of another new seed crop this coming season.  I am reminded of the range of activities that our Seed Certification Agencies will perform that will eventually lead to a wide variety of certified seed.  Our Agencies work with a diverse menu of crops produced literally around the world.  The end result of their efforts is to insure the customer buying seed that they are getting the quality, genetic purity, and traits they expect.

What is the backbone of this widespread seed certification system that makes it work?  An army of over 800 inspectors spread across our AOSCA network who will be working in the field this summer.  By the end of this season, they will have walked over and inspected millions of acres multiples times on a wide variety of field and native crops.  A portion of these inspectors are full-time staff members, however, the majority work seasonally during the busiest time for our Agencies.  Without their dedication, experience, and willingness to work long hours to get the job done, our system could not provide a high level of service to the industry.

Access to this army of well-trained inspectors makes AOSCA and its Seed Certification Agencies uniquely qualified to meet the challenges of providing high quality certified seed to growers around the globe.  Regardless of the location, our field staff typically includes teachers, agronomists, agricultural producers, and other individuals who have the training and experience to perform highly technical crop inspection services.  Prior to the beginning of each season, our Agencies provide training to new and existing staff members focused upon the various types of crops and conditions they will encounter in the coming year.  This training may include hands-on work in seed laboratories, classrooms, and field plots.  Our field inspectors are supervised by full-time staff members with many years of experience in managing the seed certification process.

Field inspectors are continually updating their skills to perform new tasks as AOSCA and its members expand into quality assurance, identify-preserved, and regulatory inspection and auditing services.  The goal is to provide a wide offering of services to the seed industry and related businesses to meet the demand of not only seed users, but customers for agricultural products around the globe.  Our field staff is a key part of this business strategy.

As we enter another inspection season, I suspect that not every day will be as pleasant as this one. Our field inspectors will encounter heat, humidity, mud, insects, and a variety of other challenges which will make their work a little more difficult.  We would be remiss if we did not recognize how important they are to seed certification activities and how much we depend upon them for AOSCA’s continued success in providing relevant services to the seed industry.