Seed Savers Exchange has completed what it describes as a major review of its seed-conservation work, becoming the first nonprofit genebank in the United States to undergo a comprehensive external assessment by the Crop Trust, a global leader in crop-diversity conservation.

The assessment took place in October 2025 and focused on how Seed Savers Exchange preserves seeds tied to agricultural heritage and the future of food. The organization said the review was more than a routine check. It examined the systems, workflows and practices used to manage its collection of living seeds.

For one intensive week, Janny van Beem, PhD, the Crop Trust’s global genebank partnership coordinator, worked with Seed Savers Exchange staff at Heritage Farm. Participants included Executive Director Mike Bollinger, Farm Director Corbin Scholz, and members of the preservation, farm and operations teams.

What the external assessment examined

The review involved examining workflows, exploring systems and considering what world-class seed stewardship could look like over the long term. Seed Savers Exchange also prepared extensive documentation before the visit, including data, descriptions of its processes and historical information about how its conservation practices developed.

According to the organization, the assessment produced candid expert feedback. It confirmed the strengths of Seed Savers Exchange’s community-based conservation model, which engages gardeners across the country in seed saving. The review also identified specific areas where the organization can continue to improve.

Three priorities for Seed Savers Exchange

The organization outlined three priorities that emerged from the assessment:

  • Modernizing access to the collection: Seed Savers Exchange is exploring updated data-management systems intended to make its seeds easier for home gardeners, researchers and conservation partners to access and use.
  • Connecting fieldwork with digital records: Planned infrastructure and supply improvements are intended to strengthen the flow of information from planting through the addition of data to digital archives.
  • Improving seed regeneration: The organization is refining how it grows out and multiplies seeds, with goals that include greater efficiency, stronger seed vigor and improved genebank management.

Seed Savers Exchange said the regeneration work is part of an effort to meet the highest international standards for genebank management. The organization did not announce a completion date for the priorities.

A longer-term conservation effort

The partnership with the Crop Trust reflects Seed Savers Exchange’s stated emphasis on transparency, continued learning and protecting seeds for future generations. The organization said outside expertise and feedback will help strengthen its conservation work and support a more resilient future for seed stewardship in the United States.

Seed Savers Exchange is inviting readers to learn more about how it protects and preserves heirloom varieties through its preservation work. The organization said the next stage of the effort will be ambitious, with the Crop Trust’s guidance informing its continuing work.