Watch for Flags
Field Services Report by Matt Raymond, RGT – Field Services Director
Phytosanitary Field Inspections
IL Crop’s accreditation to perform phytosanitary field inspections is granted through the National Seed Health System (NSHS). To maintain our phytosanitary field inspection accreditation IL Crop must pass a NSHS re-accreditation audit of our inspection process every three years. NSHS audited our systems this summer and we have passed and been re-accredited for another three years.
The approved list of crops we are accredited to inspect include the major agronomic seed crops produced in Illinois plus some less commonly thought of seed crops that are inspected out of our Puerto Rico winter farm location. Below is an excerpt from our approval letter that provides the details of the approved crops we are authorized to inspect in Illinois and Puerto Rico.
“Illinois Crop Improvement Association, Inc. has been accredited by the U.S. National Seed Health System (NSHS), under the authority of the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and in accordance with 7 CFR 353.8 and 7 CFR 353.9 to perform the following function at locations throughout Illinois and Puerto Rico. This activity may be used to substantiate the issuance of a Federal Phytosanitary Certificate.
Phytosanitary field inspection for:
• Glycine max (soybean)
• Gossypium spp. (cotton)
• Helianthus annuus (sunflower)
• Phaseolus vulgaris (beans)
• Sorghum bicolor (sorghum)
• Triticum spp. (wheat)
• Zea mays (corn)
So rest assured that IL Crop’s phytosanitary field inspection services meet the requirements of the NSHS.
Flags in the Field
It’s that time of year to start watching for flags in the field. Once a soybean field has been inspected, an ILCrop inspector will place a “Field Inspected Flag” in a convenient and obvious location. Typical flag locations are entrances to fields, such as culverts or drives. Flags may also be placed in a corner of the field closest to an intersection. If seed signs are at the edge of the field, flags may also be near or attached to the seed sign.
What the flags indicate:
- Blue Flag indicates that the field has met purity and isolation standards. The field may be harvested without restrictions.
- Red Flag indicates that the field has met purity standards, but the field requires an isolation correction. Please refer to the diagrams below if you are unfamiliar with soybean isolation standards.
- No Flag will indicate either one of the following two possibilities. Contact the seed company for additional information and instructions before harvesting.
• The field has not been inspected
• There is a significant purity problem with the field
Canola & Alfalfa GMO Testing
Did you know that in addition to corn and soybeans IL Crop also offers non-GMO lateral flow strip testing for canola and alfalfa? Well, we do! The crops canola and alfalfa were added several years ago in response to customer demand. We have options for both qualitative and semi-quantitative testing. If you have questions about testing options contact the lab and we will be happy to assist you. We can be reached at 217-359-4053 or ilcrop@ilcrop.com
Meet the Staff
IL Crop has a new addition to its Field Services Department. Aaron Reed is the new Field Services Technician. Aaron was raised in Onarga, Illinois. He started working at IL Crop in 2015 as a Certified Seed field inspector while still a student at Parkland College. After completing inspections he transitioned to working part time in the Field Services trait testing lab. In May of 2019, he accepted the full time Field Services Technician position at IL Crop. He enjoys the wide variety of duties of the Technician position, from inspecting fields for purity issues to conducting herbicide bioassays in the greenhouse. Aaron is excited to be a part of IL Crop and to continue to grow with the company.