DELAWARE — The Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA) has announced that its seed laboratory will offer additional testing services from January 2, 2024. This is the first time since 1999 that the DDA has updated its fee structure for seed lab services.
Under 3 Del. C. § 1507, the DDA’s Seed Lab is authorized to charge for seed testing services. Despite the mounting costs of testing supplies and equipment over the years, the laboratory has maintained its fee structure for the past 24 years. However, the growing expenses necessitated an increase.
The following fee schedule will take effect on January 2, 2024, and be applied to each sample submitted:
The Plant Industries Section, which supervises the DDA Seed Laboratory, has introduced new services. These include Noxious Weed Count ($10/sample) and Cold Germination ($15/sample). Early in 2024, the lab plans to add the Falling Number test at $50/sample. This particular test is crucial for identifying flour quality by examining the enzymatic activity and structural integrity of starch chains in cereal crops.
For testing purposes, producers should submit one pound of seed in a clean bag labeled with the type of seed and the harvest date. The samples should be free of foreign matter, such as debris and chaffing from the seed. Uncleaned samples or those containing other grains will incur a cleaning fee of $30 per sample.
The Seed Lab will continue to offer analyses for Vomitoxin ($46/sample), Aflatoxin ($46/sample), Round-Up Tolerance ($20/sample), and Seed Count for conditioned samples only ($10/sample).
These changes aim to support Delaware’s agricultural industry by providing comprehensive, high-quality testing services. For more information about these changes or submitting samples for testing, interested parties can contact the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s Seed Laboratory at 302-698-4590.
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