ASTA Hosts Successful Farm & Lawn Seed Conference

On Sunday, November 3, ASTA held its annual Farm & Lawn Seed Conference in conjunction with the Western Seed Association Conference in Kansas City. ASTA’s committee meetings and educational sessions focused on a range of critical issues for the grass, cover crop, farm, lawn, and environmental and conservation seed industries. The Noxious Weed Working Group, Cover Crop Working Group, and Environmental and Conservation Seed Committee met during the morning session. Federal partners at the Bureau of Land Management, USDA’s Seed Regulatory and Testing Division, and the American Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies participated in the meetings.

The afternoon session featured an update on Farm Bill implementation and conservation seed issues from Kevin Norton, Associate Chief of USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. Frank Curtis from New West Genetics spoke on the challenges and opportunities facing the emerging hemp industry, and John Duff from the National Sorghum Producers presented on sustainability in sorghum production. Pat Miller and Virginia Houston from ASTA updated the conference on state and federal policy issues.