# Title 74 — Seed Commission

## Article 74-03 — Seed Certification Standards

## Chapter 74-03-00.1 — Definitions

### § 74-03-00.1-01. Definitions.

As used in this article, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:
1. "Blend" means seed consisting of more than one variety of a kind, each in excess of five
percent by weight of the whole.
2. "Brand" means a word, name, or symbol, number, or design used to identify seed of one
person to distinguish that seed from seed of another person.
3. "Bulk seed" means seed stored in bins and may mean seed stored in containers larger than
one hundred sixty pounds [72.72 kilograms].
4. "Conditioning" includes all activities performed on seed between harvest and marketing. Other
terms associated with conditioning could include cleaning, processing, sizing, grading, storing,
seed treating, drying, scarifying, and other operations that may change the purity or
germination of the seed.
5. "Field inspection" means physical examination or observation of a field by an authorized state
seed employee. Inspections, tests, certifications, and other acts are not intended to induce
reliance on the seed department's inspections, certifications, or any other action or inaction for
any purpose relating to quantity or quality of the seed or crop produced, fitness for purpose,
merchantability, absence of disease, or variety or selection identification. Certification means
only that the seed crop was randomly inspected and at the time of the inspection the field or
seed lot met the rules of the department.
6. "Genetic purity" means the application of the appropriate standards for certain phenotypic
traits relative to the developer's description of the variety/germplasm. In the context of this

publication, "genetic purity" should not be interpreted to imply verification of the genotype or
verification of all described traits.
7. "Grower" means any person that is complying with all the certification rules and regulations in
the production of field-inspected seed.
8. "Hybrid" definitions include:
a. "Double cross" means the first generation hybrid between two single crosses.
b. "Foundation single cross" means a single cross used in the production of a double cross,
a three-way cross, or a top cross.
c. "Inbred line" means a relatively true-breeding strain resulting from at least five
successive generations of controlled self-fertilization or of backcrossing to a recurrent
parent with selection, or its equivalent, for specific characteristics.
d. "Open pollination" means pollination that occurs naturally as opposed to controlled
pollination, such as by detasseling, cytoplasmic male sterility, self-incompatability, or
similar processes.
e. "Single cross" means the first generation hybrid between two inbred lines.
f. "Three-way cross" means a first generation hybrid between a single cross and an inbred
line.
9. "Inseparable other crops" means only other crops of similar size, shape, or density which are
difficult to remove in the usual methods of cleaning.
10. "Kind" means a group of varieties so nearly similar that individual varieties cannot be clearly
differentiated except under special conditions.
11. "Mixture" means seed consisting of more than one kind, each in excess of five percent by
weight of the whole.
12. "None" means none found during the normal inspection process (both field and seed
standards). None is not a guarantee to mean the lot inspected or analyzed is free of the factor.
13. "Other varieties and off-types" means plants or seeds which do not conform to the
characteristics of a variety as described by the breeder. They do not include variations which
are characteristic of the variety.
14. "Variant" means any seed or plant that:
a. Is distinct but occurs naturally within a variety;
b. Is stable and predictable with a degree of reliability comparable to other varieties of the
same kind, within recognized tolerances, when the variety is reproduced or reconstituted;
and
c. Was originally a part of the variety as released.
A variant is not an off-type.
15. "Varietal identity" means the verification of the identity of a variety, cultivar, or germplasm
entity through documentation of the pedigree, i.e., tracing the particular cycle of reproduction
back to its origins with the developer, and the application of the developer's variety/germplasm
description for certain visible, phenotypic traits in field inspections and laboratory analysis.

16. "Variety" means a subdivision of a kind which is distinct, uniform, and stable; "distinct" in the
sense that the variety can be differentiated by one or more identifiable morphological,
physiological, or other characteristics from all varieties of public knowledge, "uniform" in the
sense that the variations in essential and distinctive characteristics are describable, and
"stable" in the sense that the variety will remain unchanged to a reasonable degree of
reliability in its essential and distinctive characteristics and its uniformity when reproduced or
reconstituted as required by the different categories or varieties.
History: Effective May 1, 1986; amended effective September 1, 2002; January 1, 2005; January 2,
2006; July 1, 2007; July 1, 2010.
General Authority: NDCC 4.1-52-10
Law Implemented: NDCC 4.1-53-19, 4.1-53-42, 4.1-53-44
