 Most of us don't give much thought to seeds in our lives unless we're planting a garden or re-seeding our lawn. But seeds are the foundation of all agriculture, meaning seeds directly or indirectly produce the food we eat. Before a consumer can purchase a package of red Russian kale garden seed, for instance, someone has to test to make sure the seed will germinate and be kale instead of a weed. Similarly, a farmer who plants red winter wheat needs to know the viability and purity of a seed lot to determine the proper seeding rate and ensure a successful stand. The Wyoming Seed Analysis Lab, seed lab for short, is instrumental in this process. The seed lab is housed at the Research and Extension Center in Powell. The lab tests everything from seed germination and purity to finding and reporting the presence of restricted and prohibited noxious weed seeds. The results of seed tests provide necessary information for the seed labeling process, which is required under state law. Labeling standards help protect farmers and homeowners so they get quality seed. The results are also helpful to seed dealers, researchers, the Wyoming Department of Agriculture and the Wyoming Seed Certification Service. So the next time you plant a seed, think about all the effort that went into producing, cleaning, testing and labeling before it ever reaches your farmer backyard. From the University of Wyoming Extension, I'm Mae Smith exploring the nature of Wyoming.