One might think that organic vegetables, by definition, would be produced from organic seed. There’s a rule mandating it, in fact. The National Organic Program rule on seed states: “The producer must use organically grown seeds ... except ... non-organically produced, untreated seeds and planting stock may be used to produce an organic crop when an equivalent organically produced variety is not commercially available.”

Nearly everyone agrees that the exception is necessary, because there just isn’t enough seed, at least with the traits sought by growers. In fact, industry insiders estimate that just 5% to 10% of the organic vegetables sold in the U.S. is produced from organic seed.

Kelly Keithly, the CEO/president of Keithly-Williams Seeds and chairman of the American Seed Trade Association, says the exception is absolutely necessary. He likened the situation to a hardware store that sells a huge variety of nails. “What if the building industry said you must also have all those nails produced in a different way? You would have to carry double the inventory,” he says. “It raises the cost for all involved.”

It’s A Catch-22

Keithly’s company sells organic seed, but it’s not their focus, and he recommended speaking with Marc Cool, the director of Seeds of Change. The New Mexico company was founded 20 years ago as an organic seed business, but to show how times have changed, back then it was entirely focused on gardeners. The phenomenal growth in organic consumption — it’s been growing at about 15% a year for the past several years — has caused the large seed breeding companies to take notice.

But they are still engaged in an “arms race” of sorts in creating better seed for the dominant conventional market, says Cool. Historically, it was also something of a Catch-22. “There was no demand,” he says, “because farmers had nothing to demand.”

Consumers will continue to drive growth in the organic seed business, says Cool, who expects that the pattern is likely to continue to follow that seen in northern Europe. In certain crops in Germany, for example, such as cucumbers and onions, organic seed is mandated without exception. In the U.S., however, he expects the first organic vegetable crops to be grown with all organic seed will be — again, because of consumer demand — leafy greens such as lettuces and chard.

Help For Northern Growers

Part of the reason for the optimism is that organic seed advocates are getting more research dollars. A good example is a new project to create a robust national network of organic vegetable breeders. The goal of the Northern Organic Variety Improvement Collaborative (NOVIC) is to develop improved vegetable varieties that are adapted to organic systems combined with disease resistance, quality nutrition, and great flavor, says Matthew Dillon, the director of advocacy for the Organic Seed Alliance. In addition to the alliance, the project partners are Oregon State University, the University of Wisconsin, and Cornell University.

The three universities make terrific trial hubs because of the similarities of their growing environments, says Dillon. Five crops were selected that integrate grower needs and plant breeding expertise: peas, broccoli, sweet corn, carrots, and winter squash. Variety trialing and evaluation of material at various stages of development will provide key information regarding adaptability and will be ideal for soliciting regional participant grower input for further improvement in cultivar development, he says.

Special Needs

Organic growers often have different needs than conventional growers, says Dillon, and it would be of great benefit if their seed addressed those needs. For example, organic carrot growers, like organic growers everywhere, struggle with weeds. But carrots are particularly challenging because they don’t develop a canopy, like say, sweet corn, that can shade out weeds and enable the crop to compete. An organic carrot grower would love to see a variety that had strong emergence with fast-growing tops.

And speaking of sweet corn, a lot of organic growers in the northern climes to be addressed by NOVIC struggle with the fact that plants just don’t take up nutrients as readily in early spring when the earth hasn’t had a chance to warm up. “If you’re farming conventionally you can just apply a fertilizer and it’s OK,” he says. “But an organic grower wants a sweet corn variety that can take up nitrogen in cold soils.”

Dillon thinks that projects such as NOVIC will enable smaller companies to sprout up, and larger existing companies, seeing the growth in sales of all things organic, are starting to get in the game. It’s just going to take some time, he says, adding that the exception to the NOP rule on seed will be necessary for at least another decade. “It’s the nature of the business,” he says. “Seed work is slow work.”