Seed and planting material quality

When it is needed

In disputes about poor emergence, lot non-compliance or damage to planting material.

What we examine

A labelled lot of seed or planting material.
Packaging, labels and retained control samples.
Supply documents and test reports.

Materials to prepare

Contract and specification with quality parameters.
Lot numbers, delivery notes, labels and quantity information.
Documents on storage, transport and presowing treatment.
Sampling and test records, sowing plan and emergence information.

Sample questions

Which lot quality parameters are supported by the submitted documents?
Do the samples examined relate to the lot supplied?
Which deviations from agreed parameters have tests established?
Could storage and presowing preparation conditions have affected the material's condition?
Are the data sufficient to link poor emergence to seed quality?

Build a set of questions →

How the work is carried out

Establish the lot's contents and link documents to particular samples.
Compare material handling conditions and agree the necessary tests.
Distinguish established deviations from circumstances requiring additional data.

Result

A report describing the lot, supported parameters and a justified assessment of the causes of deviations found.

What affects the conclusions

Poor emergence does not by itself establish defective seed. If the original lot is unavailable, assessment of its condition at delivery may be limited.

Frequently asked questions

Can material remaining in an opened bag be examined?

The submitted material can be assessed, but its connection to the lot and storage conditions must be supported. The sample's representativeness is assessed separately.

Are laboratory tests needed?

They are necessary for some sowing quality parameters. The examinations and provider are determined according to the crop and question posed.

How to trace a lot from delivery to a particular field

If seed of one crop arrived in several lots, it is useful to describe them separately before analysing the causes of poor emergence. For each lot, compare labels, delivery notes, quantities received, quality documents and information about subsequent use. This helps check which particular lot reached the disputed field.

Create a sequence: receipt, storage, possible treatment, movement to the sowing location and actual sowing. Identify date sources—a log, record, label, transport document or worker's note. If some information was reconstructed later from memory, note it separately from records made during the work.

Which connections should be preserved

The lot number on packaging and the lot number in the quality document.

Numbers of used and remaining packages, and whether lots were mixed.

The field or part of it, sowing date and machinery used.

Data on material treatment and changes in storage conditions.

The storage location of remaining material and how samples already submitted were obtained.

A report showing good laboratory germination does not automatically describe every remaining portion after subsequent handling. Conversely, examining retained material requires assessment of its connection to the original delivery. If this connection cannot be traced, the examination question should be refined: which properties are established now and which data permit discussion of the lot's condition at an earlier stage. Separate lot histories help compare results with a particular field rather than with the crop across the farm as a whole.