Seed Savers Exchange, the nonprofit based at Heritage Farm near Decorah, will continue its ADAPT community science trial program for the next four years through a new U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded partnership led by the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
The initiative, called “From Seed to Market: A multi-regional collaborative infrastructure for organic vegetable breeding and variety adoption,” is intended to strengthen organic vegetable breeding, expand trial networks and speed the adoption of organic varieties across the country. The partnership includes UW–Madison, Seed Savers Exchange, SeedLinked and Oregon State University’s eOrganic.
Funding comes through the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, which supports research, education and outreach for organic agriculture.
How Decorah’s ADAPT program works
Through ADAPT, gardeners and farmers evaluate heirloom varieties side by side in real-world growing conditions. Participants choose the crops they want to trial, then receive three randomly assigned varieties. Seed Savers Exchange supplies the seeds, plant labels and instructions, while participants submit their observations through the SeedLinked platform.
The observations cover characteristics such as flavor, yield, earliness and disease resistance. Seed Savers Exchange uses the information to understand how varieties perform in different regions and growing conditions. The findings help inform seed regeneration, distribution priorities and future selections for the organization’s catalog.
“Seed preservation is a shared effort, and this partnership shows what we can accomplish by bringing gardeners, researchers, and conservation organizations together,” said Mike Bollinger, executive director of Seed Savers Exchange.
In addition to continuing ADAPT, the grant will support two other Seed Savers Exchange efforts. The organization plans to move its extensive genebank characterization and evaluation data into the Global Crop Diversity Trust’s GGCE system. Once available through Genesys, the data will give breeders, researchers and growers public access to decades of variety information and help them select seeds suited to regional challenges.
Seed Savers Exchange will also develop a pathway from its genebank to its commercial catalog. Promising heirloom varieties will be evaluated under organic conditions through ADAPT, with the strongest performers tracked for possible inclusion in the Seed Savers Exchange Catalog.
How to join the 2027 trials
Gardeners interested in participating during the 2027 growing season must complete the ADAPT interest form by Dec. 31, 2026. Seed Savers Exchange said it will contact interested growers in early January with available trials and participation details.
Questions about the program can be sent to [email protected]. Seed Savers Exchange was founded in 1975 and preserves culturally diverse and endangered garden and food crop heritage by collecting, regenerating and sharing heirloom seeds, plants and stories.