An Assessment of Native Seed Needs and the Capacity for Their Supply Final Report (2023) / Chapter Skim
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4 State Government Uses of Native Seed
4 State Government Uses of Native Seed
Pages 43-62
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From page 43... ...
It put forward the hypothesis that the seed market in the West was strongly affected by decision making of BLM and the US Forest Service, and wanted to know if state governments, which also purchase native seed for land-management activities, were experiencing shortages, and if so, whether this phenomenon was limited to the western states or was more widespread. The Committee felt that a survey of state departments that use native seed or plant materials might shed light on some of the Committee's other preliminary observations about native seed needs, such as how the timeframe in which seeds are needed and the objectives of users affect availability, among other factors (Box 1-2)
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From page 44... ...
. FIGURE 4-2 State departments' use of native and non-native seed and plant materials.
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From page 45... ...
. Of those respondents who responded that wild seed was collected on state land, 92 percent said that at least some of the seed was used to plant directly at a project site, and 79 percent said that at least some of the seed was used to grow plants with the purpose of harvesting seed or plant materials for future use.
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. FIGURE 4-4 State departments' use of wild-collected seed from state land.
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Departmental representatives were asked if there were other sources of information used to obtain information about native seed and plant materials availability. Responses included direct calls to vendors, annual meetings with registered suppliers, online vendor postings, other state departments, state crop associations, state university extension offices, native plant databases, BLM seed buys, and state seed bank.
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From page 48... ...
By contrast, production contracts specify the desired type, quantity, and delivery date of native seed and plant materials, while mitigating production risk by sharing some production costs or by providing flexibility on the quantity delivered and/or the delivery date. They may or may not specify a price.
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From page 49... ...
In addition, approximately 10 percent of the state respondents were unable to provide an estimate of the amount their department spends on native seed and plant materials, and some respondents skipped this question. TABLE 4-2 Timing of When State Departments Usually Establish a Contract with Seed Suppliers Contract is Usually Established Percent of Departments Before the supplier begins seed production 37 After the supplier begins seed production 24 Unsure of timing of contract 39 Total 100
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From page 50... ...
. In general, the results show that using native seed was more important to states than using native seed sourced from a specific geographic location or certified seed (in which the geographic source of the originally collected seed was verified FIGURE 4-9 Importance of certain seed attributes to state departments, by annual seed expenditures.
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From page 51... ...
of source specificity, e.g., weed-free, with genetically appropriate mentioned most often. Seed Substitutions State representatives were asked questions about how often their departments substituted other kinds of seed or plant materials when their preferred native seed or plant material was unavailable, specifically substituted with non-native seed or plant material, native seed or plant material of another species, or native seed or plant material from a different geographic region.
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From page 52... ...
Other Reasons for Substituting with Non-natives In an open-ended question, state staff were also asked if there were other reasons besides the three offered by the survey that explain why non-native seeds and plant materials were substituted when preferred natives are not available. Table 4-4 provides a summary of the reasons given, grouped into categories.
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From page 53... ...
As shown in Figure 4-13, 42 percent of the respondents stated that they frequently substitute with native seed or plant material of different species, and this was similar for eastern and western states. When the responses were examined by the level of annual expenditure on seeding projects, 50 percent of state departments with $100,000 or more in expenditures indicated that they frequently substitute with TABLE 4-4 Other Reasons Provided by State Departments for Substituting Non-Natives for Preferred Natives Reason for Substitution (Categories)
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From page 54... ...
This suggests that those departments with larger projects may have more difficulty getting the quantity of natives they need. As shown in Figure 4-14, 29 percent of state representatives responding to the survey indicated that their departments frequently substitute with native seed or plant materials from a different geographical source location when their preferred native seed or plant materials are not available.
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From page 55... ...
. It is possible that buyers in western states have smaller windows of time for purchasing seed FIGURE 4-16 Typical reasons for substituting with natives having different characteristics, by region.
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From page 56... ...
about the biggest barriers or disincentives to using native seed and plant materials in the state departments' work, approximately half of the respondents mentioned availability of plant material (48%)
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. Responses were also examined by the amount of annual native seed and plant materials expenditures of the department (Figure 4-18)
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Desired plant materials are often unavailable in the quantities needed, and buyers' project timelines do not allow for the time that it might take suppliers to obtain and/or propagate these materials. High-quality native seed may also be prohibitively expensive, and even when state departments have a policy of using it, their project contractors may substitute lower-cost seed.
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From page 59... ...
A high-level summary of responses to perspectives in the short term is provided in Table 4-6 and in the long term in Table 4-7. TABLE 4-6 Reasons for Anticipated Increase or Decrease in State Departments' Near-Term Use of Native Seed or Plant Materials Reasons Native Seed and Plant Materials Use Is Likely to INCREASE Number of in the Near Term (Category)
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From page 60... ...
The survey showed that there is growing recognition of native seed and plant materials by states as being valuable for their environmental benefits, from improving water quality to providing wildlife habitat, and the use of native seeds by states is expanding. Although the survey found that virtually all state departments say it is important to use natives, not everyone in state departments agrees that native plants are the best choice for their restoration projects.
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From page 61... ...
Conclusion 4-2: Many state departments appear to have faced difficulty maintaining a diverse supply of genetically appropriate native plant seeds and plant materials and consequently substitute non-natives, different species, or the same species of plant but from another region. The major reasons cited for substitutions are a lack of availability at any price, and the price, when seed is available.
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From page 62... ...
Conclusion 4-4: The lack of knowledge on establishing native plants was mentioned as a barrier to native seed use. Seed selection tools, greater knowledge about restoration outcomes, and better information about the performance of native seed mixes used in different applications would be helpful to states.
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