Saskatoon (Rural Roots Canada) – The Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA) is future-proofing its Blue-certified seed tag.

Caroline Lafontaine is the CSGA’s Chief Operating Officer.

She says they are currently piloting a program that will allow producers to use digitally-enabled tags, moving away from a hand-written and printed patchwork.

“Every bag of seed that you will purchase has a tag associated with it that tells you where that seed was produced and the class of that seed,” says Lafontaine.

She says the digital tags will be easy to scan.

“What the CSGA is piloting is digital tags that showcase a QR code so that when scanned, you can get information about that tag in a digitized format.”

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She adds they are also making it easier for producers to print the tags themselves.

“What we have is two different designs of tags. So we have 4-up paper that goes into your regular printer, but we also have a thermal design template for those thermal design printers.”

Lafontaine says the latter provides a higher quality of tag.

“A tag that can withstand the different weather conditions or be left on a picnic table outside and then sit in the rain for a few hours.”

The intent is to allow seed growers to print tags using the machinery that they have at home and attach these new digital tags to two bags.

She says a few producers will be part of the next phase of this pilot this winter.

“They are working with us to put these new tags on bags so farmers may see them across the country.”

For more information, check out the CSGA’s website and subscribe to their newsletter.