The Four Types of Seed Trade Associations

WILLIAM HECKENDORN AND ROY A. EDWARDS, JR.

THEIR TRADE associations keep the producers, conditioners, and distributors of seeds informed of developments that bear on their business.

Each of the four types of associations (State, regional, national, and specific interest) serves its own purpose and deals with its own problems.

The State associations keep abreast of State laws that affect seedsmen in the State. There were 34 active State seed associations in 1961 in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho-eastern Oregon, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Some of them employ executive secretaries to aid in their work of issuing bulletins, distributing reports of the experiment stations, and conducting meetings.

Most State groups hold annual meetings, at which regulatory and management problems are discussed, current advances in research and breeding are reported by scientists, and many educational and national problems are considered.

Many State associations sponsor educational and informational short courses and clinics.

The Illinois Seed Dealers' Association has cooperated with the University of Illinois in sponsoring an annual series of meetings throughout the State to acquaint dealers and farmers with new developments in the use of fertilizers, insecticides, and improved agricultural practices.

In other States, such as Mississippi, the associations and the State colleges have developed short courses in seed technology and in operating procedures for seed plants. Short courses have been conducted in Oregon, Iowa, Indiana, and other States in teaching seed analytical work to employees in the seed industry.

Scholarship and grant programs are other activities whereby the seedsmen tell their story and in turn stimulate interest in agriculture. A single organization represents grain and seed interests in some States.

State associations are particularly important in giving voice to the smaller businesses that do not generally sell seeds in interstate commerce.

The seed and soil clinics and short courses the associations sponsor give distributors of seeds a chance to become more familiar with the work of agricultural experiment stations so they can give better service to farmers.

As a result of the clinics, distributors of agricultural chemicals and fertilizers have become more familiar with the research work in the colleges, and they, in turn, demonstrate the benefits of improved practices in their communities. The seed and soil clinics have become a roundtable to explore problems and to help all concerned groups to work more closely together.

A number of States have organized State councils, whose members represent the groups interested in breeding, producing, and distributing seeds and include officials from the offices of seed law enforcement, agricultural experiment stations, farm organizations, crop improvement associations, seed analysts, and others. The purpose of a State council is to discuss regulatory and legislative questions before the introduction of legislation or the promulgation of new regulations.

REGIONAL associations deal with agricultural characteristics and trade of geographical areas. There are five-. Pacific Seedsmen's Association, Southern Seedsmen's Association, Western Seedsmen's Association, Atlantic , Seedsmen's Association, and Northern Seedsmen's Association.

The Pacific Seedsmen's Association draws its membership primarily from seedsmen located in States west of the Rocky Mountains. It is active in educational and promotional programs, conducts business surveys, and develops statistical information for its members. A continuous program of developing uniform State laws pertaining to the seed industry is another one of its main objectives.

The Southern Seedsmen's Association, composed of seedsmen in the 13, Southern States, has been instrumental in constructive national legislation concerned with the agricultural conservation program. The association furnishes informational aid and support to dealers through promotional programs, group insurance, advertising aid, and recommended business operations. It also supports an annual seedsmen's short course at the Mississippi State College and holds a trade exhibit in conjunction with the annual meeting.

The members of the Western Seedsmen's Association live and work in the Mississippi River Basin. It is a forum of midwestern buyers and sellers of seeds. At meetings each November in Kansas City, Mo., members hear crop reports and determine conditions of supply and demand, which help them prepare to meet requirements for the following planting season.

The Atlantic Seedsmen's Association was organized because of the development of situations that affect more than one State. One such has to do with seeds of turfgrasses, of which the States in the region use a great deal. The launching of an interstate highway program made it important that the seed industries become better informed on maintenance of roadsides in all States of their area. Members of the association met to discuss the Matter.

The Northern Seedsmen's Association actively encourages the use of seeds of northern-grown, winter-hardy legumes. The climate of the area served by the association was one of the regional conditions that brought the association into being. The Northern Central States are a source of a large volume of seeds harvested annually from plantings that have withstood this cold climate for many years.

THE AMERICAN Seed Trade Association, a national organization, represents the seed industry of the United States.

It was organized in 1883 by 35 garden-seed firms that got together to cope with unjust damage claims, excessive tariff on seeds, and high postage rates. A farm-seed group was added to the association in 1930. Hybrid seed corn interests were included in the organization in 1942.

The ASTA has a board of directors, four commodity divisions, six service divisions, and numerous committees. The interests of the association are shown in the names of the commodity divisions Farm Seed Division, Garden Seed Division, Hybrid Corn Division, and the Lawn and Turfgrass Division. The service divisions are Mail Order, Wholesale Packet Seed, Retail Store, Brokers, Associates, and Asta, the younger seedsmen's division.

Each division has its own staff of officers and committees. Unlike the association's standing committees, which are appointed by the president of ASTA, the division committees are appointed by the chairman of the division. Each division has an executive committee and various other committees, depending on the scope of their activities.

In the Farm Seed Division are the Farm Seed Research Conference Committee, Seed Improvement Committee, and Verified Origin Committee. The Farm Seed Research Conference Committee organizes an annual conference, in which men of the Department of Agriculture and State colleges participate. The conference brings to the attention of the seed trade the latest advances in research having to do with farm seeds. The Seed Improvement Committee works closely with the International Crop Improvement Association and State crop improvement associations to keep the industries informed about current developments. Keeping abreast of the rules necessary to represent the parties to a contract covering the sale or purchase of seeds is the responsibility of the Trade Rules Committee. The Verified Origin Committee cooperates with the Department of Agriculture in an auditing program, whereby the origin of certain farm seeds is checked by records that must be maintained by the receivers of such seeds.