Seed Labeling Requirements
North Dakota seed laws require each container of seed which is sold, offered for
sale, exposed for sale, transported for sale, or held in storage with the intent
to sell for planting purposes have a complete and accurate label attached to the
container. If the seed is sold in bulk, a label must be given to the consumer at
the time of the purchase.
The following information is required on a seed
label for agricultural seeds, which includes the seed of grass, forage, cereal,
fiber, oil crops, lawn seed, and any other kind of seeds commonly recognized
within this state as agricultural seed.
- Wheat, durum, barley, oats, rye, soybeans, field pea, dry beans, and flax must
be identified by kind and variety name
- Canola must be sold as a class of certified seed
- All other agricultural seed must be identified by kind or kind and variety
- Lot number
- Origin (state or foreign country where grown)
- Percentage by weight of pure seed
- Percentage by weight of other crop seed
- Percentage by weight of weed seed (maximum allowed is one percent)
- Percentage by weight of inert matter
- The name and rate of occurrence per pound of restricted noxious weeds either
singly or collectively in excess of five per pound in cereals, oil seeds,
millet, and seeds of similar size, and in excess of thirteen seeds per pound in
grasses and small seeded legumes.
- Germination percentage exclusive of hard or dormant seed
- Hard or dormant seed if present
- Calendar month and year the germination test was completed
- Commonly accepted name of any seed treatment
- Full name and address of the labeler
- If the seed is treated, a word or statement indicating that the seed has
been treated, the commonly accepted chemical or abbreviated chemical name of the
applied substance, and if the substance is harmful to humans or other vertebrate
animals, a caution statement prohibiting use for food, feed or oil purposes. A
separate label may be used for the seed treatment.
- Disease test results for seed borne diseases – if required
For labeling requirements of other crops click on the link below:
Vegetable seed (4-09-11)
Flower seed (4-09-11.1)
Tree and Shrub seed (4-09-11.2)
Germination
The date of test for germination shall not exceed the following:
- Agricultural seed: nine months excluding the month of the test
- Flower, vegetable, native grass or forb seed: twelve months excluding the month
of the test
- Cool season lawn and turf grasses: fifteen months excluding the month of the
test
Noxious Weed Seeds
Prohibited noxious
The following species are not allowed in seed offered for sale in this
state: leafy spurge, field bindweed, canada thistle, perennial sow thistle,
russian knapweed, absinth wormwood, hemp (having more than three-tenths of one
percent tetrahydrocannabinol), musk thistle, spotted knapweed, hoary cress and
yellow star thistle.
Restricted noxious
The following species are allowed to be sold in seed in this state but only up
to the maximum amount of 25 seeds per pound either singly or collectively:
dodder, hedge bindweed, wild oats and quackgrass.
Invoice and Records
The initial labeler must keep the following records
- Complete and accurate records for three years of each lot of seed sold
- A file sample for one year from the final disposition of the entire lot of seed.
- An invoice including the lot number, kind and variety, amount of seed sold, date
of sale, and the name and address of buyer and seller
- A copy of the seed label and testing information from where the analysis on the
label was derived must be retained with the records
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