Stanford Young, Utah Crop Improvement Association
Stanford Young, secretary manager of the Utah Crop Improvement Association (UCIA) for 35 years, is approaching retirement. He recently had a “personal profile” published in Seed Today magazine, a well deserved recognition for his many years and countless contributions to the seed industry. Further recognition is given to the UCIA, Stan Young and his field agent Wayne Anderson in a recent press release by the AOSCA.

A lot of work goes on behind the scenes before seed arrives at the doorstep of an end user.  Commercially available or propagated seed is sown and then harvested, or in the case of wild land harvested seed is carefully monitored then collected in it’s native environment.  The seed is then dried, cleaned, processed and tested, and made available to dealerships, distributors and finally the end user.

At virtually every step of this process, at least some level of third-party oversight is applied to assure the end user of the quality, parentage, or source of the seed, depending upon the certification level of the lot. Stan Young and the Utah Crop Improvement Association provide Great Basin Seed and the Intermountain West seed industry with that oversight.

A considerable portion of the native seed we sell has been certified through the source identification (SID) program. Stan Young and his associate Wayne Anderson go through a pre-collection process with the seed collectors to verify the the seed was harvested at the sites claimed on the SID tag. This assures that the seed is adapted to a particular ecotype or geographic area, and that the seed is transferrable from one site to another. The source identification program in Utah, with it’s trade mark “yellow tag”, has been at the forefront of the seed certification program in western states with Stan serving as tireless ambassador.

A portion of the grains, grasses and forbs we sell are frequently part of the UCIA’s seed certification program. Seed certification is a validation process that guarantees the parentage and genetic purity of seed. Generally speaking, foundation seed (seed from the plant breeder) begets registered seed and registered seed begets certified seed. The certification process verifies the breeder or grower of the seed and its parentage. Fields are inspected prior to sowing and the crop is inspected prior to harvest. A certified seed laboratory performs an analysis of the seed, verifying purity percentage and germination rates. If the seed passes the field inspection and analysis, certification is granted and tags are issued to identify the certification level of the seed. Stan Young has been the overseer of this process in Utah for 35 years. It’s no small task, covering millions of square miles and involving thousands of growers and farmers. Stan has, in one way or another, had a relationship with every grower, processor and vendor in the program. It has been a monumental human and resource management undertaking.

Perhaps the biggest contribution of the UCIA to the local native seed industry, at least in our eyes, has been one of advocacy. Stan has attended countless meetings and presented before hundreds of land managers, including private industry, NPO’s, NGO’s, the United State Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Natural Resource and Wildlife agencies – just to name a few. In those meetings he has advocated for the cause of private industry, helped shape policy and procedure and has been liaison between the industry and it’s customers.

As a scientist and manager he has held our company and our products to high standards. He has raised the bar. As a realist, friend and advocate he has helped establish protocols and relationships that have led to the furtherance of our industry and our establishment as a legitimate industry in the public and private eye. His work with the BLM and their seed buying program has been priceless. He conducts a mean annual seed meeting and encourages professional decorum, but is certainly no stranger to a friendly jab that reminds us he is as human and grass-roots as the rest of us. His academic, if mildly prim side, is at once juxtaposed with whip-smart humor, a hearty laugh and a knack for problem solving and boots-on-the-ground thinking. His ability to work with and manage a motley crew like the seed industry – and simultaneously maintain his scruples – is admirable in it’s own right. ;)

Stan, we will miss you, and we thank you for your immeasurable contributions to the seed industry.

Sincerely,

Jason Stevens, Great Basin Seed

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