Alexandria, Virginia, USA
June 21, 2012

The American Seed Trade Association, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), hosted the 10th Conservation Seed Workshop June 19 in Washington, D.C.

Participants included seed industry representatives who provide seed for conservation, land rehabilitation and reclamation and representatives from the Bureau of Land Management, Farm Service Agency, Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, Agricultural Research Service and American Farmland Trust.

Topics included improving the coordination for plant and seed research, recommendations and purchases in BLM; local adaptation; regional biomass strategies; seed testing uniformity and targeted approaches for natural resource conservation and streamlining efforts, among others.

“It was an informative, interactive workshop with a variety of speakers and topics,” said Mark Mustoe of Clearwater Seed Company in Spokane, Wash., who chairs ASTA’s Environmental and Conservation Seed Committee. “Conservation is such an important part of the United States – people enjoy being outdoors and around wildlife.”

NRCS Chief Dave White said the agency purchases 80 percent or more of its seed from this particular group and stressed the importance of working together to find the right solutions for land rehabilitation and reclamation.

“It’s taken the last three to four years to lay the ground work and introduce ourselves as a part of the seed industry, as businessmen and as part of the solution,” Mustoe said. “We hope to continue these discussions and working with these groups because they are our customers. The more we can understand each other’s needs, the better.”
 

Website: http://www.usda.gov

Published: June 21, 2012