Farmers planting small grains or cover crops this fall need to make sure they are planting legal seed varieties. There has recently been an increase in illegal plantings of non-certified public seed varieties and brown bagged sales by individuals and elevators. Bryan Jorgenson is a certified seed dealer and farmer from Ideal, South Dakota and says certified public varieties are pure and free of noxious weed seed.

He says when farmers plant certified seed the royalties go back to support on-going breeding and variety development.

Jorgenson says it’s illegal to buy non-certified or brown bagged seed from individuals or elevators, and the penalties can be high.

Jorgenson says farmers can plant their own bin-run seed but it’s just illegal to sell it if they aren’t a certified seed dealer. Farmers should look at the seed tag to ensure it is certified.