Why Idaho Beans?

Idaho Produces the Finest Bean Seed In The World
A long growing season, rich volcanic soil, clear mountain water and a unique quality control program allow Idaho to produce the highest quality, disease-free bean seed in the world.

Always Ask for “Idaho Bean Seed”
It’s Idaho’s ability to produce disease-free, highest quality bean seed that has made the state famous. When you purchase bean seed with the Idaho Crop Improvement Association Certified Blue Tag, you’re buying the best!

Idaho Growers Meet High Standards of Quality Control

The Blue Tag on each container of Idaho Certified Seed guarantees that the seed meets or exceeds the strict quality-control standards for growers set by ICIA:

• Land Eligibility: To be eligible for the production of certified beans, a field must not have been planted in beans for one year, unless the previous crop was under certification and of the same variety and class. Any field on which Bacterial Blight is detected is ineligible to grow certified beans until it has been cropped two years to crops other than beans.
• Field Isolation: Idaho’s seed field isolation prevents outcrossing and mechanical mixture.
• Seed Source Verification: Fields must document their foundation or registered seed use.
• Field Management: Every field must be rogued of objectionable weeds, other crops and off-type plants.
• Harvest: Combines are carefully cleaned before each seed field is harvested, and additional care is taken to avoid mechanical damage to the seed. Any bags or boxes are cleaned prior to storage and carefully sealed to prevent mixing.
• Seed Lot Identification: Harvesting, handling, storing and conditioning of seed is performed to prevent mechanical mixture and damage to seed and to maintain identity of individual lots of seed.
• Conditioning: Seed is either picked by hand or mechanical device in an ICIA- approved plant or under direct supervision of an ICIA representative. All trace mixtures or damaged beans, weeds, inert matter and other crop seeds are eliminated and conditioned seed is packaged in contaminant-free containers.
• Laboratory Testing: A sample of each seed lot is tested by the state seed laboratory or in the ICIA field offices before receiving certification.

The Tag Certification Program – Your Guarantee of Excellence

Certification Tags Idaho’s tag certification program is supervised jointly by the Idaho Crop Improvement Association and the University of Idaho Research and Extension Service.

Over 50 years ago, the Idaho Crop Improvement Association (ICIA) established the Certified Blue Tag Seed Program to guarantee a reliable source of quality crop seed for growers. Millions of pounds of Idaho seed crop are certified annually by the ICIA, one of the nation’s largest seed quality control programs.

When you buy Certified Blue Tag Certified Seed from Idaho, you can be sure you’re planting product that meets or exceeds the following standards of excellence:

• Variety documentation
• Minimum 99% pure seed (other crops or varieties .00125% maximum)
• Uniform germination and growth potential
• Proven variety performance
• Reduced risk from noxious or objectionable weed seed
• Maximum* of 1.0% inert matter, splits and cracks, or badly discolored product.

All Idaho certified seed is produced from Registered Seed and no “second-generation” seed can be sold under the Blue Tag certification.