California is known throughout the world as a premier location for crop breeding, variety development and seed production, particularly of horticultural crops and agronomic crops other than soybeans. Many companies, both large and small, maintain research and production facilities in California and contract for seed production in the state.

California’s seed industry is a major provider of specialty seed products, and the industry has evolved to fill an important niche in the global seed industry. California is an ideal location for seed production due to its favorable climate and sophisticated infrastructure for growing, harvesting, processing and marketing high quality seeds. These attributes have contributed to California’s position as a leader in a highly interconnected and complex global seed industry that includes growers, processing facilities, distribution networks, and research institutions.