DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT  
PESTICIDE AND PLANT PEST MANAGEMENT DIVISION  
REGULATION NO. 623. FIELD SEED CERTIFICATION  
Filed with the secretary of state on March 21, 2023  
These rules take effect 7 days after filing with the secretary of state.  
(By authority conferred on the director of agriculture and rural development by section 2  
of 1959 PA 221, MCL 286.72, and section 178 of the Executive organization act of 1965,  
1965 PA 380)  
R 285.623.205, R 285.623.214, and R 285.623.215 of the Michigan Administrative Code  
are amended, as follows:  
R 285.623.205 Small grains and buckwheat; field and seed standards.  
Rule 205. (1) Field standards for small grain seed and buckwheat are as shown in table  
205.1:  
TABLE 205.1  
Field Standards for Small Grain Seed and Buckwheat  
Maximum Each Class  
Factor  
Foundation  
.02%  
Certified  
.05%  
Other varieties or off-types  
Inseparable other crops  
Bunt  
1 per acre  
none  
5 per acre  
none  
Other smuts  
.5%  
2.0%  
(a) Rye, spelt, vetch, and winter barley are not permitted in wheat.  
(b) Seed from fields that have more than 0.5% other smuts must be treated with a  
fungicide that is approved by the director.  
(2) Rye must be 660 feet from fields that could be a source of contamination.  
(3) Seed standards for small grain seed and buckwheat are as shown in table 205.2:  
TABLE 205.2  
Seed Standards for Small Grain Seed and Buckwheat  
Factor  
Foundation  
99.0%  
Class of Seed Certified  
99.0%  
Pure seed (minimum)  
Inert matter (maximum)  
Weeds (maximum)  
1.0%  
2 per pound  
1.0%  
2 per pound  
April 20, 2022  
2
Corn cockle, chess, and noxious  
weeds (maximum)  
none  
None  
Other crops – no rye or vetch  
allowed (maximum)  
1 per 2 pounds  
2 per pound  
Winter crops in spring crops  
Spring crops in winter crops  
Other varieties or off-type same  
crop (maximum)  
Germination (minimum) wheat,  
oats, barley, or triticale  
5 per 2 pounds  
5 per 2 pounds  
10 per pound  
10 per pound  
.02%  
.05%  
90.0%  
80.0%  
Germination (minimum) rye, spelt,  
or buckwheat  
(a) Minimum pure seed percentage of rye or spelt is 98.0%; with inert matter at a  
maximum of 2.0%  
(b) This does not apply in such cases where climatic conditions do not take care of the  
situation.  
R 285.623.214 Foundation corn; inbred lines.  
Rule 214. (1) An inbred line is a relatively true breeding strain of corn that results from  
not less than 5 successive generations of controlled self-fertilization with selection.  
(2) Inbred increase fields must be isolated by a distance of not less than 660 feet from  
other corn or like color or texture and by a distance of not less than 1,320 feet from corn  
of a different color or texture.  
However, the isolation distances must not apply when increase is by hand-pollination.  
(3) Inbred lines are eligible for certification when used in the production of certified  
hybrids.  
(4) Fields must be inspected by the certifying agency not less than 4 times during the  
pollinating period. Roguing for off-type plants must be performed before any pollen  
discharge. An inbred that has more than 0.1% definitely off-type plants or more than  
1.0% of doubtful-type plants must not be certified.  
(5) A seed lot of an inbred line must not have more than 0.1% definitely off-type ears or  
more than 0.2% ears with of-color kernels as determined by an ear inspection or winter  
grow out test.  
R 285.623.215 Foundation corn; single cross hybrids.  
Rule 215. (1) A single cross hybrid must consist of the first generation of a cross  
between 2 certified inbred lines.  
(2) A single cross crossing field must be isolated by a distance of not less than 660 feet  
from other corn of like color or texture and 1,320 feet from corn of a different color of  
texture.  
(3) All of the following field inspection standards must be complied with:  
(a) Fields must be inspected by the certifying agency not less than 4 times during the  
pollinating period.  
(b) Seed parent plants that are capable of producing viable pollen must be detasseled.  
3
(c) When 5.0% or more of the seed parent plants in a crossing field have apparently  
receptive silks, the field is ineligible for certification if shedders comprise more than  
0.5% of the seed parent plants on any 1 inspection or exceed an accumulative total of  
more than 1.0% for any 3 consecutive inspections.  
(d) A shedder is a seed parent plant that has more than 1 lineal inch of tassel area with  
anthers shedding pollen.  
(e) One or more seed parent lines growing in the same isolation and having more than  
5.0% apparently receptive silks are ineligible for certification if 1 or more of the seed  
parent lines have more than 0.5% shedders, unless the plants in the area that have excess  
receptive silks are destroyed.  
(f) Roguing for off-type plants must be performed before the time of pollen discharge.  
(g) A crossing field in which more than 0.1% definitely off-type plants or more than  
1.0% doubtful-type plants in the pollen parent have shed pollen must not be certified.  
(h) At the time of the last inspection, the seed parent in a crossing field must not  
contain more than 0.1% definitely off-type plants or 1.0% of doubtful-type plants.  
(4) A seed lot of a single cross hybrid must not have more than 0.1% definitely off-type  
ears or more than 0.2% ears with off-color kernels as determined by an ear inspection or  
winter grow out test.  
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