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Conduct Your Own Seed Trial CHECKLIST Revised 2.13.13 Contents

Step 1: Envision the trial Step 2: Plan the Trial Step 3: Plan the Evaluation Dates & Metrics Step 4: Walk the Trial Field & Note Results Step 5: Analyze Your Results

You can use this checklist whenever you conduct a new seed trial. To learn more about the seed trial process in general, refer to the Organic Seed Alliance’s, Guide to On-Farm Variety Trials. Step 1. Envision the trial

• Which crop will you trial:

• What are your goals (for example, drought tolerance, nutrient utilization or pest resistance):

• What are the desired variety traits, in order of preference: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Note: For common desired traits for varieties, refer to Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners.

• Varieties you will trial (common number to trial is 10 to 20):

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Note: Be sure to include a standard “check variety”, one to compare the others to. Could be the one you currently use, a common industry standard, well-known variety, or one that you know has key desired traits for comparison.

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STEP 2: Plan the trial

• Choose a planting date that will yield results that meet your goals above (for example, if your goal is to find bolt-tolerant lettuce for July production, then an appropriate planting date could be late-May):

• How many plants or row feet of plants will you plant for each variety:

Note: For recommendations, refer to “Population and Plot Size” in Guide to On-Farm Variety Trials.

• How many replications will you include (at least 2 recommended):

• Draft the production method details (for example, direct seeded or transplanted, row spacing, weed management, fertilization, harvest methods).

• What are the trial field conditions (for example, soil types, wind direction, sun exposure, weed pressure).

• Diagram the trial layout in the field, including conditions you noted above (use a separate piece of paper).

STEP 3: Plan the evaluation dates & metrics

• Set dates throughout stages of growth and always evaluate when all plants reach maturity (for example, evaluate seedling vigor after 3 weeks and again at harvest time).

• Create a scaled rating system for evaluating the worst and best performing varieties (for example, 1-5 or 1-9, low-high).

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STEP 4: Walk the trial fields & note results Do the following for each trait on each of the evaluation dates you selected in Step 3.

• Walk around the trial field and find the plots that look the best, the plots that look the worst, and the plots in the middle score range for that trait. If you are using a scoring system of 1-9, score these plots as a 9, 1 and 5, respectively. For easy tracking, print out and enter the data in the Seed Trial Data & Analysis Spreadsheet in the FarmsReach Seed Toolkit. Note: Be sure to evaluate all the plots individually. Do not pool replicated plots for evaluation.

• With the high, low, and middle score noted, walk through the field a second time and evaluate how each plot compares to the 9, 5 and 1 rating (for example, if the plot you are looking at is better than the plot you rated a 5, but worse than the 9, give it a score of 7).

• Take notes on each plot individually (for example, an overall assessment, notable details, or plot comparisons). Note: The goal is to find the best representative sample; therefore, evaluate all plants in each plot as a whole. Do not simply assess best and worst in the population.

STEP 5: Analyze your results

• If you haven’t already, enter the data you collected on each evaluation date into the Seed Trial Data & Analysis Spreadsheet in the FarmsReach Seed Toolkit. Note the calculated averages of each trait.

• Using the scoring scale, highlight the lowest and highest averages of each trait across varieties in red and green, respectively. Note: These scores tell you which varieties produced the best and worst performing traits.

• Now you can compare these low and high scores with your trial goals from Step 1.

• You should now have a better sense of which varieties produce the traits you are seeking.

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• You can use this data for a number of reasons: o To replace your standard varieties with better ones. o To expand your operation into other markets, because, for example, you

can now grow three kinds of lettuce versus just one. o If supply is low on one variety, you know the next best to suit your

needs.

This Checklist was based on the following resources: On-farm Variety Trials: A Guide for Organic Vegetable, Herb, and Flower Producers, Organic Seed Alliance, 2007 Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners, Suzanne Ashworth & Kent Whealy, 2002 Was this Checklist helpful to you? Do you have suggestions for how we could improve it? We want to hear from you!

Contact Eva Antczak at evaa@farmsreach.com.