State Seed Seller License Not Designed for Small Nurseries Raising Forbs

Obtaining Your Seed Sellers Certificate in Ohio, USA

Poke- Swamp - Butterfly Weed Seed

  All of my seeds have been cleaned and sorted. I hadn't bothered to count the Purple and Poke Milkweed for fear I would be disappointed by the finally tally.

  One frigid Ohio December evening I decided to spice up our favorite TV show, NCIS and do some counting. I wasn't paying attention to the final count only dividing them into groups of 50. After several evenings of sorting, I realized that I had 4,000 Purple and 1,600 Poke Milkweed seeds. Holly Smokes! I assumed I had few hundred seeds.

Keep Our Lives Balanced 

 

 

Poke Milkweed Seed

   If you have read any of my past blog post, I am sure you have realized that Nodding Onion Gardens is a small family run nursery. We have structured our business in such a way that the Natives don't over take our lives. There are trails to run and bike rides to take. Still I felt a moral responsibility not keep all of these beautiful seeds that I have been entrusted with for myself. 

Selling Seeds in Ohio is Simple ... Correct?

 

   I decide that it would be fun to sell the seeds on line. How hard can selling a few seeds on E-bay be? That is where is became complicated. "Before you get started you might want to check with the state and see if there are any regulations regarding selling seeds", my accountant husband offered.

  Simple, $10 fee to the state for my Seed Saver Certificate and I am off and running. A few click on E-bay and presto reasonably priced small 7 x 3 in bubble shipping envelopes and small glassine stamp envelopes for the seeds. Keeping the shipping envelopes less than 11 x 6 inches should qualify as First Class mail, yet another way to keep costs down. I am still searching for an inexpensive scale that measure in increments of .01 grams. Then there is also the matter of having our seeds tested for: germination rate, purity and noxious weeds. I decide not to worry about that until after completing the state's agricultural paper work. Hum .. maybe not a great plan.

Purple Milkweed Seed

The first site I visited was the Ohio Department of Agriculture Plant Health Link

Use Scientific Names Only

 

  The State Health Seed License application is straight forward, no tricky questions: name of business, address and type of seed you are interested in selling. Word to the wise... never use the term weed even if in milkweed on a legal form. The word "weed" tends to set people on edge. My advice, use scientific names only. I indicated that I would be selling both Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens) and Poke Milkweed (Asclepias exaltata). The better choice would have been to stick with the science. Thanks to Dave Dvorak and John Blakeman from the Ohio Prairie Association along with Ann Ryan from Monarch Watch.org for their efforts in helping clarify any confusion which may have occurred.

Waiting for my State Sellers Certification

Ohio Seed Labeler Permit Arrived 1/25/2014!

  While I was waiting for my certification to arrive, I began reading through the 27 pages of state rules and regulations. I started by crossing off sections that didn't apply to me: legumes, grasses and vegetables.

   There is a specific method of shipping and labeling seed that one must be in compliance. I would recommend printing Chapter 907: Agriculture Seed Certification and Labeling Definitions and wade through the rules on your own.

For Selling and Shipping Seed in Containers 8 ounces or Less -  Include

 

Scientific Name Common Name -
Germination Rate Percentage -
Date of Testing Completed -
Name and address of Person/company Labeling seeds -
Year Seed is Intended for Sale -
Lot Number -
Name of Grower -
Origin of seed -

This is all new to me so if I have forgotten or misinterpreted something please let me know.

Seed Testing in Ohio

   From what I understand, Ohio Seed Improvement is a private seed testing company in Dublin, Ohio who performs all the seed testing for those interested in obtaining their Ohio State Health Seed License. On my first phone call to he lab I was told I need 400 seeds/species. This may not be correct as the person in charge of the lab was not in. Four hundred seeds is a realistic number of seeds that I would be willing to sacrifice, anything more than that and I would have to abort this project.
 .

Seed Testing Prices

I would need all three tests each year per species

Germination - $22.25
Purity - $25/hr - This is done under a microscope
Noxious weed  - $25/hr - This is a visual test - All my seed has been cleaned so there shouldn't be to much of a problem.

  Testing more than a few species each year is not financially realistic for a small nursery like Nodding Onion Gardens. If I do indeed have enough seed for an adequate sample test size, I have decide to have Purple Milkweed tested. Ohoops ..Asclepias purpurascens.

  Amendment 

" A Day Late and a Quarter Short"

 January 27, 2014

 

   As it turns out I asked the right questions but in the wrong order. My assumption that milkweed seeds were tested based on a percentage was false.The State of Ohio requires 120 grams or 4 ounces of seed (approximate 16,000) seeds just for testing. My 4,000 Purple Milkweed seeds don't even come close to the mandatory sample size. A conversation with the owner of Ernst Conservation Seeds revealed that this is not only a problem for small growers but large companies like Ernst Seeds as well.