NEWS BULLETIN | 2022 Fall Newsletter

FALL 2022

NEWS BULLETIN

ISA News & Updates

Inside This Issue:

ISA Golf Tournament Results
Seed Health Testing On Campus Workshop
Atrazine News
ASTA's CCS & Seed Expo Dec. 5-8, 2022
Save the Date! Iowa Seed Forum Feb. 15, 2023

ISA Golf Tournament

We had a fantastic day of education and golf on June 22, 2022, at Veekner Golf Course in Ames, Iowa. We had a large group participate in both the education and the golf event. Congratulations to the Greenleaf team for winning the top flight and to the Remington Seed team for winning the second flight. Thanks also to Chad Hart and Manjit Misra for speaking to the group prior to golf. They gave a terrific overview of world economics and Manjit spoke about the Ukraine Seed Lift efforts he is overseeing. The net proceeds go to the Seed Scholarship fund. Thanks to all the participants! Also a special thank you to Greenleaf for again being the beverage cart sponsor for the event.

Seed Health Testing On Campus Workshop

Seed Health Testing Workshop to be Held October 4-7, 2022

AMES, Iowa - The National Seed Health System (NSHS) and the Online Graduate Program in Seed Technology and Business (STB) at Iowa State University are excited to offer a three-and-a-half-day hands-on seed health testing workshop in October.

“After conversing with our NSHS and America Seed Trade Association (ASTA) stakeholders, we recognized a need for additional hands-on learning in seed health testing,” says Gary Munkvold, Co-Director of NSHS and Director of the STB program. “Our STB graduate program already offers in-person short courses, so it seemed like a natural fit to partner our programs together to bring a new training opportunity to the industry.”

This workshop is designed for seed laboratory technicians, particularly those who work for companies looking to be or already are, NSHS-accredited.

Workshops will emphasize hands-on laboratory practices, combined with lectures and classroom discussions.

Save the dates for this inaugural workshop held October 4-October 7 in Ames, Iowa. Friday, October 7 will conclude around noon, CDT to give attendees an opportunity to travel home before the weekend. Registration will be $1,895 for non-accredited NSHS companies, and $1,795 for NSHS accredited companies. Space is limited.

More details and registration will be announced at a later date and will be posted at www.seedgrad.iastate.edu and www.seedhealth.org.

Atrazine News

EPA Re-evaluating Atrazine Registration; Comments Due October 7

EPA re-evaluated the current atrazine level of concern (LOC), which is 15 ppb, and proposed a revised interim decision to lower the LOC to 3.4 ppb with additional label mitigation measures required for atrazine use. EPA is taking public comments until October 7, 2022. After considering public comments on the proposed revisions to the atrazine interim decision, EPA will determine if any changes are warranted to the proposed revisions and then release its decision on this re-evaluation. EPA also intends to seek external peer review of the risks to the aquatic plant community that underlies this proposed risk management strategy.

The proposed rule will impact more than 70% of U.S. corn acres, significantly reducing application rates while requiring additional conservation practices and reporting procedures. These restrictions will impact more than 90 herbicide formulations. EPA estimates the cost to replace atrazine is $42/acre from alternative herbicide use and reduced yields. Atrazine is a vital tool for farmers across the nation, and it is especially important for weed control to farmers who implement conservation tillage or no-till farming.

AAI held an atrazine listening session on August 15 which included information about atrazine restrictions from Greg Krissek from Kansas Corn and the Triazine Network, and Mark White from Syngenta. If you were unable to attend or would like to have the slides shown during that presentation, please contact AAI Environment Director Ben Gleason - bgleason@agribiz.org.

Additionally, ISA members, and especially staff who will be directly affected by these changes, should submit comments during the comment period. If you would like information on what to submit or need help navigating the submission process, contact AAI Staff, Ben Gleason, or Reilly Vaughan, reilly@agribiz.org.

For additional information about this issue:

View information from the Triazine Network

To submit comments:

Visit the regulations.gov docket item for this issue

Questions? Contact AAI Environment Director Ben Gleason - bgleason@agribiz.org.

ASTA's CCS & Seed Expo Dec. 5-8, 2022

Join more than 2,000 seed industry professionals from over 30 countries for America's largest seed industry conference! A time-honored tradition each December, this year's CSS & Seed Expo will be our last year holding the event in Chicago, where it has been held since 1946. Don't miss this special year when we bid a fond farewell to our historical host city!

2022 Registration Rates (prior to November 16):

Full Registration, Access All Areas: $425 member/$799 non-member

Networking Only (no sessions or exhibit access) or Expo-Only Pass (trade show only): $175 member/$225 non-member

Family Companion/Personal Guest: $75 member/$125 non-member

Student Registration: Complimentary with Student ID

(see Student/Media Registration page)

Exhibitors: Contact ASTA for your exhibitor discount code!

Click Here for More Information