Mechanical Purity in Cereal Seed Crops

Introduction

The Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA) continues to regularly review its certification requirements, standards, and procedures to ensure they reflect the most recent scientific and technological developments. Our requirements must be flexible and meet the needs of stakeholders, market conditions and production realities.

The Canadian Regulations and Procedures for Pedigreed Seed Crop Production, commonly referred to as Circular 6, sets out the requirements that a seed grower and a seed crop must meet for seed crop certification. The individual crop kind standards for all cereal seed crops include a maximum impurity standard for the presence of plants of other crop kinds within the inspected crop (one cereal in another or mechanical purity). The purpose of this survey is to obtain stakeholder feedback on a review of the maximum impurity standards for Foundation, Registered and Certified status production of cereal seed crops. The maximum impurity standards for Select status seed crops are not being reviewed at this time.

This consultation document provides a detailed summary of the issue and other background information and considerations.

This 5-10 minute survey will remain open until 5 p.m. ET on March 4, 2025. We greatly appreciate your feedback. All responses are strictly confidential, as outlined in CSGA’s Privacy Policy.

If you have any questions, please email our policy and standards team or call (613) 236-0497 ext. 227. We appreciate your input and look forward to sharing updates with you.
SECTION 1 - DEMOGRAPHICS
1.Within which parts of the seed sector do you regularly operate? Check all that apply.(Required.)
2.In what region(s) do you operate? Check all that apply.(Required.)
3.What crop kind(s) do you work with? Check all that apply.(Required.)
4.Which cereals do you work with? Click all that apply.(Required.)
SECTION 2 – FEEDBACK ON POTENTIAL CHANGES

CSGA is reviewing the maximum impurity standards for other crop kinds in cereal seed crops to ensure they meet the current needs of stakeholders and to streamline and simplify the standards. Some potential options for revised standards are described below. The goal is to provide flexibility where the other kind may no longer be considered difficult to separate while maintaining a specific, and possibly strict, standard where necessary e.g., barley in oats.
5.Which of the following options do you prefer? Please check the option that you prefer the most.(Required.)
6.Please describe why you prefer the option you chose in Q5.
7.If CSGA were to streamline and simplify the mechanical purity standards for cereals, which of these examples would you prefer? Please check the option you prefer the most.(Required.)
8.Please describe why you prefer the option you chose in Q7.
9.If CSGA were to only maintain mechanical purity standards where necessary for those crop kinds that are truly difficult-to-separate from one another, which crop kinds would still require a standard (e.g., barley in oats).

Please list the crop kinds and your reason(s) why.
Thank you for participating in our Mechanical Purity in Cereal Seed Crops survey. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.