(a) Requirements for production of registered seed for growers' own increase or for commercial distribution. (It is recommended that new growers obtain the assistance of the inspector or an established grower to learn bagging techniques.)
  (1) A paper bag of adequate size and good quality should be used. Bags may be tied or fastened with wire staples.
  (2) Bagging should be started when the first plants come into full boot, but may be done any time before heads shed pollen.
  (3) The grower shall notify the Regional Office in the area in which he resides of the date he expects to begin bagging.
  (4) Good, thrifty plants which have had an opportunity for normal development should be selected. Bags should be placed over the head and securely fastened.
  (5) The grower should raise the bags on the stalk when necessary to prevent the head from puncturing the bag. All heads which become exposed must be discarded immediately. Bags should remain on the plants until the fertilization is complete. Time required for completion of fertilization ranges from ten days to two weeks.
  (6) After fertilization is completed on the bagged heads, the paper bags shall be split open, pulled down from over the head, and left fastened to the stalk. The bagged heads can thus be identified when they are ready for harvest.
  (7) When the seed from the bagged heads are fully mature, they should be hand headed, stored, and allowed to thoroughly dry. Seed must be threshed or rubbed out, properly identified, and stored under conditions to prevent any mechanical mixtures.
(b) Supplemental requirements for production of registered sorghum seed for commercial distribution. Growers requesting authority to produce bagged seed for commercial distribution must meet all requirements set forth by the State Seed and Plant Board and, in addition, must conform to the following regulations:
  (1) The grower, at the discretion of the State Seed and Plant Board, may be required to appear before said board, to take an oral or written examination as evidence of his knowledge, skill, and ability, and give evidence of adequate facilities for the production of bagged seed.
  (2) The grower must submit, at the time of filing his application for inspection for certification, a statement of his intention to bag seed for commercial distribution, giving variety, the approximate number of heads to be bagged, source of seed, and such other information as may be requested.
  (3) Growers employing common or unskilled labor in their bagging operations shall be required to give personal supervision in the matter of selecting plants, either through individual selection or intensive roguing ahead of bagging.
  (4) Growers are required to notify the Regional Office in the area in which they reside of the:
    (A) time bagging operations will be started;
    (B) time of harvesting; and
    (C) time of threshing.
  (5) All heads bagged must be hand harvested and individual heads selected prior to threshing. The grower is to give his personal attention to the harvesting and threshing.
  (6) Threshing must be done by hand-rubbing or by combines, provided such machines are cleaned under the direct supervision of an agent of the department.
  (7) Bagged seed must be sacked, labeled, sealed, stored, and properly identified and must be accessible at all times to the inspector or agents of the Seed Quality Program.

Source Note: The provisions of this §10.20 adopted to be effective September 2, 1996, 21 TexReg 7955.