By Alex Playdon, Molecular Team Supervisor, featured in SeedWorld Canada
Twelve years ago, seed testing was simple: germination tests, disease screens, and the occasional phone call about off-types. Today? My inbox looks more like a triage centre for the future of agriculture.
Breeders want varietal purity verification on their latest blends. Maltsters are asking if their barley shipments hit 95% purity. Farmers are chasing answers to disease outbreaks we didn’t even know existed five years ago. And everyone wants to know if their seed is clean, compliant, and ready for an increasingly complex marketplace.
The questions are sharper. The stakes are higher. And the tests we’re running today wouldn’t have even been part of the conversation a decade ago.
We’ve moved far beyond the basics. One of the biggest shifts? The rise of digital PCR. It’s not new to the world, but it’s newly essential to how we’re defining seed quality. We’ve developed in-house marker databases that let us determine not just what variety you’ve got, but how much of it is refuge. That kind of data is non-negotiable when you’re working with midge-tolerant wheat blends or trying to get your barley accepted by a premium maltster.
But it’s not just about the fancy tech. It’s about agility. One year, the priority is cereal disease. The next, it’s canola purity or potatoes. Our job is to stay ahead of testing for what’s coming, not just what’s already here.
Regulations haven’t always kept pace, but that’s the case everywhere. We don’t set the rules—we innovate within them. Whether it’s conventional plate testing or molecular diagnostics, we match the tool to the problem. The real skill is in knowing which approach will give our clients the clearest, most useful answers.
And while I can’t predict what seed testing will look like in five years, I know this: the inbox won’t be empty. It’ll be full of new challenges, new pathogens, and new demands from a sector that’s evolving faster than ever.
Seed labs aren’t just test providers anymore. We’re traceability partners. Quality guardians. Silent collaborators in every successful sale, shipment, and season.
And if you’re not already asking your lab the hard questions—about purity, disease, emerging risks—you should be. Because if the seed’s not right, nothing downstream will be.
Seed labs aren’t just testing seed anymore—they’re managing risk, verifying purity, and catching problems before they hit your fields. If you’re not asking the hard questions of your lab, you need to be.
Alex Playdon
Molecular Team Supervisor, 20/20 Seed Labs
Email: Alex@2020seedlabs.ca
Website: www.2020seedlabs.ca
X: @2020Seedlabs
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2020seedlabs
An Insider Article featured in SeedWorld Canada May 2nd, 2025 https://www.seedworld.com/canada/2025/05/02/why-smart-businesses-start-with-the-right-questions-and-the-right-lab/
