1. A. General standards. The general standards as adopted in this chapter are basic and apply to red clover.

2. B. Land requirements.

   1. 1. For foundation seed production, the land shall have been free of red clover for the previous five years.
   2. 2. Registered seed may be produced if no red clover of any other strain has been produced on the land within the preceding three years.
   3. 3. Certified seed may be produced if no red clover crop of any other strain has been produced on the land within the preceding two years and where one cultivated crop has grown, unless the preceding strain was the same variety.
   4. 4. The land shall be free of volunteer plants of the crop kind during the year immediately prior to establishment and no manure or other contaminating material shall be applied the year previous to seed or during the establishment and productive life of the stand.

3. C. Field standards.

   1. 1. Field inspection. At least one field inspection, made at blooming time, is required each year that certification is applied for.

   2. 2. Isolation. All fields used for the production of foundation, registered, or certified seed shall have the minimum isolation distance from fields of any other variety or fields of the same variety that do not meet the varietal purity requirements for certification, as given in the following table:

      	Classes	Fields of less than 5 acres	Fields of 5 acres or more
      	Registered	880 yards	220 yards
      	Certified	110 yards	55 yards

      Unit of certification. The unit of certification shall be a field. Portions of a field not meeting requirements for certification shall not be allowed to reach the seed stage. Ten feet isolation is required between certified classes of the same variety.

   3. 3. Red clover. Only two seed crops are permitted of all certified seed.

   4. 4. Specific.

      		Maximum Permitted-Ratio of Plants
      	Factor	Registered	Certified
      	Other Types	1:500 (0.2%)	1:200 (0.5%)

4. D. Seed standards

   		Standards for Each Class
   	Factor	Registered	Certified
   	Pure Seed (minimum)	99.0%	99.0%
   	Other Crops (maximum)	0.05%	0.1%
   	Inert Matter (maximum)	1.0%	1.0%
   	Weed Seed (maximum)	0.15%	0.25%
   	Objectionable Weed Seed	None	None
   	Total Germination and Hard Seeds	85.0%	85.0%

Statutory Authority

§§ 3.2-4024 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR172-01-01 § 9, eff. April 1980.