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

2. B. Land requirements. A crop of small grain will not be eligible for certification if planted on land on which a small grain crop was grown the year previous except a crop of the same variety grown from certified seed.

   In fields double-cropped, neither or the two crops grown in the previous calendar year shall have been the same kind as the crop being inspected, unless they were grown from a class of certified seed of the same variety.

3. C. Field standards.

   1. 1. Field inspection. At least one field inspection shall be made after the crop is fully headed when varietal or crop mixtures can best be determined.

   2. 2. Isolation.

      1. a. Wheat, oats, barley, triticale. A field shall be separated by a strip of ground adequate to prevent mechanical mixtures. The strip may be either mowed, uncropped or planted to some crop than the kind being certified.
      2. b. Rye. All rye fields used for the production of certified seed shall be isolated by at least 220 yards from the fields of any other variety or varieties of rye or fields of the same variety that do not meet the varietal purity requirements for certification. Isolation between diploid and tetraploid rye shall be at least 15 feet.

   3. 3. Specific.

      	Maximum Permitted in Each Class
      Factor	Foundation	Registered	Certified
      Other Varieties	None	1:5000 (0.02%)	1:2000 (0.05%)
      *Inseparable Other Crops	None	None	10 plants per acre
      Inseparable Objectional Weeds	None except trace of onion	None except trace of onion	None except trace of onion and trace cockle
      **Seed-borneDiseases	1:20,000 (.005%)	1:10,000 (0.01%)	1:200 (0.5%)
      *Inseparable other crops shall include crop plants, the seed of which cannot be thoroughly removed by the usual methods of cleaning. No rye in other small grains permitted.
      **No tolerance for stinking smut in wheat.

4. D. Seed standards

   	Standards for Each Class
   Factor	Foundation	Registered	Certified
   Pure Seed (minimum)
   	Wheat, Barley	99.0%	99.0%	99.0%
   	*Oats, Rye	98.0%	98.0%	98.0%
   Inert Matter (maximum)
   	Wheat, Barley, Triticale	1.0%	1.0%	1.0%
   	*Oats, Rye	2.0%	2.0%	2.0%
   Weed Seeds	.01%	.02%	.05%
   **Objectionable Weed Seeds	1/16 per oz.	1/12 per oz.	1/8 per oz.
   ***Other Crops	None	None	.05%
   	Other Varieties	None	.01%	.05%
   Germination
   	Barley, Oats	90.0%	90.0%	90.0%
   	Wheat, Rye	85.0%	85.0%	85.0%
   Nematodes	None	None	None
   *The purity standard for oats may be 98%; provided not more than 1%; of the impurities consist of impurities other than empty glumes.
   **May include wild onion bulblets and wild mustard at the rate of not more than 1/16 per ounce for foundation; 1/12 per ounce for registered; 1/8 per ounce for certified. No corn cockle shall be included in this percentage.
   ***Registered small grain may contain .01% of the following other crop seed, red clover, lespedeza, orchardgrass, fescue, timothy and rye grass.

Statutory Authority

§§ 3.2-4024 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

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