Any agricultural seed being offered for sale for the purpose of planting must be labeled, and labeled truthfully.  The information that must be included on this label is specifically outlined in the law.  See below to learn about some of the information required.  The location of this information on the label is not specified so each label may be organized differently. 

To ensure that the information on the label is accurate, the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) regularly collects samples of seed being offered for sale throughout the state and has it tested in a laboratory.  Violations will result in regulatory actions being taken against the person or company who labeled the seed.  KDA inspectors also review the labels of the seed being sold to ensure that they are complete and up to date.

Every person in the business of selling agricultural seed for the purpose of planting must register with KDA.  Anybody selling to the end user, or the person doing the planting, is considered to be a retailer and must register as such.  Everybody who sells seed to anyone other than the end user needs to register as a wholesaler.  Anyone who does business as both a wholesaler and a retailer needs to register as both.   Registration fees are based on the type of business being conducted.  Seed conditioners must also register but are not charged a registration fee.

To register as either of these types of businesses, you can go online at https://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/plant-protect-weed-control/application-center and fill out the form and pay the registration fee with a credit card.  You can also call KDA at (785) 564-6698 and request an application form be sent to you and pay with a check or money order. Each type of registration expires August 31 of each year, and must be renewed by September 1 each year.

The money paid into the state seed fund through these registration fees goes to pay for the administration of the seed program and the enforcement of the seed law.

You may have come across a blue tag attached to seed containers in addition to the usual white tag.  These blue tags designate the contents as certified seed which is seed of a known variety that has been inspected and found to be genetically pure.  These inspections are conducted by an authorized agency to verify that the seed has met state, federal and international requirements.  Most certified varieties are protected by federal law and can only be sold by the company that developed them.



There are four classes of certification.  

1. Breeder class - seed produced directly by the organization that bred the variety. 
2. The other classes are each one generation removed from the next and handled to maintain satisfactory genetic purity and varietal identity.

Buying certified seed ensures that the qualities and desired characteristics such as yield, vigor and disease resistance that were originally developed in the variety will still be evident in the plant that grows from the seed you bought.  Cross breeding with other varieties or non-certified seed can reduce or eliminate these characteristics.

For more information on seed certification, contact the Kansas Crop Improvement Association at (785) 532-6118 or go to http://www.kscrop.org/.

The Department of Agriculture’s seed program is constantly working to ensure consumers are protected by truth-in-labeling principles and fair competition among seed businesses through quality and reliability standards.

The Plant Protection and Weed Control Program (PPWC) is a program within the Kansas Department of Agriculture that regulates the Agricultural Seed Industry as well as the Nursery Industry and enforces the noxious weed law.

Seed inspections are important to the agricultural industry and to consumers.  Farmers use the germination and purity guarantees to determine crop yield.  If seed does not meet those guarantees, the crop will be less than expected and the farmer may suffer economically.  Poor crop yields may ultimately raise the price of food for consumers.

Plant Protection and Weed Control inspectors perform inspections at businesses that sell agricultural seed and collect samples of various kinds of seed.  If the inspector finds seed that does not comply with the Kansas seed law, or if seed is analyzed and found to be out of tolerance, the business is issued a stop sale order on the seed.  That seed cannot be sold until it is brought back into compliance with the Kansas seed law, or it must be destroyed.

Anyone can sell agricultural seed as long as they comply with the Kansas seed law.  The Kansas seed law requires businesses and individuals who sell agricultural seed, whether wholesale or retail, to register with the State of Kansas.

Yes.  Agricultural seed is defined as the seed of grass, legume, forage, cereal and fiber crops, or mixtures of these, but it does not include vegetable, fruit, flower, tree or shrub seeds.

Yes.  The Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) was adopted in 1995 preventing any farmer to sell a protected variety of seed unless he/she has permission from the owner of the protected variety.  It is a federal violation to sell PVPA varieties without permission from the owner of the protected variety.  To find out if a variety is protected, you may visit this USDA website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/plant-variety-protection.  You may also contact the Kansas Crop Improvement Association at (785) 532-6118 or go to http://www.kscrop.org/ for more information.

A retailer sells agricultural seed directly to the end user or grower.  A wholesaler sells agricultural seed at wholesale to any person other than the end user or grower.

You may contact the PPWC office for a seed registration application and a free copy of the Kansas seed law.  You may also obtain the application on our website at https://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/plant-protect-weed-control/application-center.  The seed law is also available at https://agriculture.ks.gov/docs/default-source/PP-Seed/kansas-seed-law.pdf?sfvrsn=0

Currently, a retail license costs $30 per year and the wholesale license $250 per year.  These fees fund the PPWC’s agricultural seed program.

Yes. We require all seed conditioners to register every two years, but we currently do not require a registration fee.  Please call the KDA office for a seed conditioners application or visit https://agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/plant-protect-weed-control/application-center.