Through a lifetime in the seed industry, one lesson has never changed: every seed sample represents someone’s investment, reputation and often, their livelihood.
People often think seed testing is about microscopes, laboratory equipment and reports. While those tools matter, I’ve learned they’re only part of the story. After more than 40 years in the seed industry, I believe our most important responsibility is helping customers make confident decisions.
I grew up on my family’s certified seed farm, where I learned early that every seed lot represents someone’s hard work and investment. As a kid, I cleaned seed samples for county farm shows and learned to operate seed cleaning equipment when an extra set of hands was needed. Those experiences taught me lessons that still guide me today.
My colleague, SGS Crop Sciences Purity Laboratory supervisor, Isaiah Waddell and I share that same perspective, even though our paths into seed testing were different. Isaiah grew up on a ranch producing native grasses, wildflowers and tree seed, while also raising cattle. Like me, he understands behind every sample is a grower, a company and countless hours of work. Our agricultural foundations shape how we approach every customer and every test.
Trust Beyond the Test
One of the things I often tell customers is that my job is to help keep them on the right path. We don’t always deliver the results people hope for, but we always strive to deliver the most accurate results possible. Whether we’re helping answer a labeling question, identifying a contaminant or troubleshooting an unexpected result, our goal is to provide information our customers can trust.
That trust also means responding quickly. If Isaiah or our team notices something unusual while testing a sample, we don’t wait until the report is complete. We contact the customer as soon as possible so they understand there may be an issue before seed moves forward. Those conversations can save valuable time and help prevent much larger problems.
Judgment You Can’t Automate
While technology continues to improve our work, experience remains one of the most valuable tools in our laboratory. Much of seed purity testing still depends on trained eyes and sound judgment. On our purity team alone, four people represent nearly 100 years of combined seed testing experience. That’s expertise built one sample at a time.
For Isaiah and me, seed testing has never been just about producing accurate results. It’s about earning trust with every sample we test. Every result represents someone’s investment, someone’s reputation and oftentimes, someone’s livelihood. That’s a responsibility we’ll never take lightly.
