Illinois Crop Improvement Association, Inc.

The activities of the Illinois Crop Improvement Association, Inc. (ICIA) and other state seed certifying organizations were first recognized by a regulation under the Illinois Seed Law and became effective November 15, 1936. This regulation was later amended to designate the Illinois Crop Improvement Association (ICIA) as the official seed certifying agency for the state of Illinois. This regulation remained effective until July 13, 1955, at which time the Illinois Seed Law was amended making the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station the official seed certifying agency. In this amended law, the director of the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station was empowered to appoint the appropriate agency to do the work necessary for the certification of seeds. On July 20, 1955, the Illinois Crop Improvement Association, Inc. (ICIA) was empowered to do the seed certification work in Illinois in compliance with standards approved by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station.

ICIA operates to provide official seed certification and related services under a series of official memoranda of understandings (MOU). The chain begins with the USDA’s Agriculture Research Service in Washington, DC and the federal seed laws. It moves next to the Illinois Department of Agriculture and Illinois State Seed Laws. Then the responsibility moves to the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station and the University of Illinois (the federally designated land grant university). Nearly eighty years ago, the Ag Experiment Station and University of Illinois faculty and administrators were instrumental in establishing ICIA as a freestanding, non-profit corporation to provide seed certification and crop improvement services in support of the state’s agricultural economy. We have operated under a seed industry board of directors since that time. The board is free to operate the ICIA business independent of federal, state and university budgetary, administrative, and/or political influence. ICIA is however, obligated to uphold federal and state seed laws and to provide professional services deemed by various state and federal “partners.”

ICIA has no stockholders and pays no dividends nor patronage refunds. Should ICIA ever be dissolved for any reason, 100 percent of the assets will revert directly to the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station to once again assure the assets will be used for the public good. ICIA is allowed to generate and retain appropriate reserves to assure its ability to provide service to the industry during down business cycles. The reserves may be used to support the exploration and development of new services that may benefit the industry. ICIA has used these reserves to establish and operate the Puerto Rico Station in 1985, the Identity Preserved Grain Lab in 1988, and the Greenhouse Program in 1994. Reserves were also used in 1991 to purchase and develop the headquarters’ facility in the Interstate Research Park.

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