Colorado just became home to the first U.S.-bred hemp seed to qualify as Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA) certified seed.

New West Genetics, Ft. Collins, Colo., submitted their variety of seed called NWG-ELITE–the first ever U.S.-bred hemp seed to pass the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s hemp trials and qualify as AOSCA certified seed.

“This is an exciting time for the industrial hemp industry. It seems breeding, technology, and information advances are happening at the speed of light; this is a giant step for American hemp farmers,” Duane Sinning, CDA’s Division of Plant Industry Assistant Director, told the Broomfield Patch.

The company has paved way for other hemp seed producers to grow and manufacture industrialized hemp seeds. But, in order to do so, a particular seed must pass requirements set by Amendment 64 of state of Colorado. Colorado state law requires that industrial hemp tests at or below 0.3 percent THC concentration.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture launched the first certified hemp seed program in the country in 2016. They set out to discover which seeds would grow crops that fall within industrial hemp THC requirements across Colorado’s various diverse growing conditions.

To be a CDA approved seed, New West Genetics had to make sure their seed, NWG-ELITE, passed the follow requirements:

1. Acceptance by the Variety Review Board (CSGA or AOSCA)
2. State wide testing of the genetics for THC content and validation of the variety description by the CDA
3. Seed produced by a Colorado Seed Growers Association member in accordance with AOSCA standards or an approved seed certifying agency
4. Individual seed packages being tagged with “CDA Approved Certified Seed” tags

In the past, seed varieties came from all over the globe like Italy, Serbia, Poland, and now the United States joins the list of CDA approved varieties.