The meeting was called to order by President Del Gates. Attendees included: Neal Goerger, Miles Hansen, Brian O'Toole, Bill Erbstoesser, Randy Rust, Chester Miller, Leon Hiltner, Del Gates, Wayne Johnson, Craig Birdsall, Bill Flaget, Mike Gartner, Paulette Neva, Steve Sebesta, Dr. Al Schneiter, Dale Williams.  Paulette informed the group that SE Director, John Miller had recently had by-pass surgery, was doing well, but would not be attending the meeting.

Minutes of the last meeting were read with a motion to approve by Bill Flaget and second by Leon Hiltner. The financial statement was read with a motion to approve by Miles Hansen and second by Craig Birdsall. Dr. Schneiter mentioned to the group that they did have a grad student coming on board that would be assisting with scab resistance. All counties have paid dues for 2003 with the exception of Sioux County. All of the check-offs due from last year have been paid and 21 of 39 counties had paid the check-off due this year.

Steve Sebesta, State Seed Department, said they are on target for a record year with 379,000 acres applied for certification.

Dale Williams updated on this year's allocations, Nekoma Flax and Dapps HRSW. Thirteen counties plus the NDAA received allocations of Nekoma Flax for a total of 405 bushels distributed. Twenty counties plus the NDAA received the Dapps HRSW for a total distribution of 2,505 bushels.

Williams mentioned a number of experimental lines that are in the pre-release stage:

ND741 - looks good in some areas and some not so good - medium resistance to scab - more data to be collected as yet.
ND751 - scab resistance somewhat similar to Alsen- yield advantage of 5-7 bu. over Alsen, 2-3 days later than Alsen - more data to be collected as yet. Mike Rose asked if ND751 was released if there would be sufficient seed to allocate - there are 75 acres in production this year so there would be minimal bushel allocations to counties if released.
ND16301 Experimental Barley in carlot testing this year and also will be in next year. There is also potential of a 2-row feed barley.
A naked oat that could possibly go to the release committee - has a tremendous yield over Paul oat and performs better than Buff oat in North Dakota.
Other potential varieties include 2 flax, 1 soybean (potential replacement for Sargent), 1 tofu soybean, 2 black beans (increasing in Washington, both look good, but undoubtedly only 1 would be released.

Dr. Schneiter mentioned GMO scab tolerance in wheat - at this point, Syngenta is the only one known to be working on this. It is critically important the NDSU gets involved with this and plans to start pursuing it more aggressively. Trying to manage the release and seed distribution of a GMO wheat would be a major undertaking. Del Gates mentioned that he attended the co-existence meeting (organic, ip, transgenetics) and feels very strongly that NDCISA needs to be involved with Roughrider Genetics. One obstacle Dale Williams sees, is in the selection of producers. A Classification system for growers would be a step in the right direction. Right now, Roughrider Genetics meetings include the Research Foundation and producers involved with the program. Communication and information is what this group needs to get involved in.

There was discussion on non-certified seed sales of oats. Oat varieties are released without the Title V provision. General consensus was that this group should not get involved in selling of non-certified seed and there are no prices in place for this. Sales of low-germ seed were discussed. Substandard tags can be issued and the selling price adjusted. There was discussion on whether the association fee (check-off ) should be adjusted. Leon Hiltner made a motion that the association fee (check-off) not be decreased on low-germ sales. Second by Brian O'Toole. Motion carried.

Dale Williams discussed Organic Seed Production. Foundation Seedstocks has become involved with organic seed production to establish Foundation Organic Seed. Dapps was put under a contract for organic production this year. Dale asked for the groups OK to work with the organic group on new varieties, noting that seed would be able to move across county lines from day one (not restricted by county deadline of Feb. 1) since organic seed is a statewide program. The whole association fee would go to NDCISA. Neal Goerger made a motion to allow contracts with organic growers with seed allowed to cross county lines from day one with the whole association fee (check-off) going to the State Crop Improvement Associatian. Second by Miles Hansen. Motion carried.

District meetings were discussed with a decision to hold them the Week of December 8-12.

Northeast - hold in Langdon at the new Vic Sturlagson Center (contingent on completion of the bldg)
Southeast - Fargo, NDSU Campus, Loftsgard Hall
Northwest - Mike Rose made a motion to hold in Minot at the NCREC and discuss location for the next year at the District Meeting. Second by Wayne Johnson.
Southwest - Dickinson

Speaker for the annual meeting was discussed. Galen Schroeder will be e-mailing Del and Paulette info on a possible speaker. Brad Brummond was also mentioned as a speaker on co-existance. Premier Seed Grower and Distinguished Service Awards were discussed.  Notices for nominations will go out to the counties earlier. The State Meeting is scheduled for February 17-18, 2004 at the Doublewood Inn, Bismarck

Roughrider Genetics was again discussed. There was question as to whether someone from this group should get involved. Their meetings currently consist of the Research Foundation, and licensed growers. It was noted that John Miller, SE Director is a licensed grower and could possibly be a spokesperson for our group.

Question was asked as to whether growers could be informed before the field inspectors come out. Steve Sebesta said inspectors generally try to contact the grower a few days prior to arriving. If growers have comments with regard to inspections, Steve asked that they send comments to him.

There being no further business, Bill Erbstoesser moved to adjourn with a second by Wayne Johnson.