Seed production methodology

Calculates emissions due to the production of the seed associated with the measured crop.

Overview

Seed Production activity calculates emissions generated due to the production of the seed for the measured crop. This is inclusive of any cover crops planted in service of or in the same cultivation cycle as the measured crop.

Limitations

We assume a single seeding rate per crop, per region. Seeding rate is highly variable dependent variety, conditions, management, and many other factors. This is not accounted for in this methodology.

User Inputs

For each measurement there are inputs required. In the case that the user cannot provide the inputs then Regrow will default them.

Inputs required	Description	Unit/Options
Crop	The name of your measured crop. This should be a single crop per measurement. If a cover crop is included in the cultivation cycle of the measured crop, then it will be included in the emissions attributed to the measured crop.	See our list of supported crops
Harvested yield	The harvested fresh yield for your measured crop, before any drying or other losses might occur. This is used as the yield denominator.	kg per hectare
Location	The area used in the production of your measured crop. This should be a single field or single managed unit. Location is used to inform the emissions factors used. In most cases this is a global value for the crop and some select crops x geography this is country-specific.	Country-level or field level
Seeding rate	This value is defaulted. Seeding rate used to produce the measured crop.	kgs of seed used per hectare

Assumptions

We assume a single seeding rate per crop per geographic location.

Default Parameters

Seeding rate references

FAO. (1996). Technical conversion factors for agricultural commodities (1992–1996). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/ess/documents/methodology/tcf.pdf

Agrimatco. (n.d.). Seeding rate of sunflower in Ukraine. Retrieved from https://agrimatco.ua

Polcalc. (n.d.). Growing rapeseed – Why is it worth liming rapeseed? Retrieved from https://www.polcalc.pl

European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO). (2025). Common sowing rates of major European field crops: Results of a large-scale farmer survey. EPPO Bulletin. Retrieved from https://euroseeds.eu/app/uploads/2025/05/25.0304_EPPO-Bulletin-2025-Common-sowing-rates-of-major-European-field-crops-Results-of-a-largescale-farmer-survey.pdf

Corn Growing Articles. (n.d.). Corn growing – Articles. Retrieved from https://corngrowing.com

European Seed Association. (2020). Sowing date as a factor affecting soybean yield—A case study in Poland. Retrieved from https://euroseeds.eu/app/uploads/2020/12/20.0649_Sowing-rates.pdf

Emissions factor coefficient reference

All seed production emission are sourced from Ecoinvent v3.11. However, Ecoinvent has a limited set of crops. So in cases crops do not have an exact match emissions factor and were mapped to closets.

If there was no emissions coefficients available for that crop to map to, this activity will generate a null value for the crop.

Regrow crop	Ecoinvent v3.11, seed production data set mapping
corn	maize
wheat_winter	wheat
soybean	soybeans
wheat_spring	wheat
barley	barley
oat	oat
sorghum	maize
cotton	cottonseed
rye_spring	rye
potato	potato
rice	rice
peanut	peanut
rice_upland	rice
canola	rapeseed
millet	maize
sunflower	sunflower
dry_bean	pea
corn_silage	maize
tomato	no match available
safflower	no match available
flax	linseed
mustard	rapeseed
radish	potato
sweet_potato	potato
sorghum_silage	maize
rye	rye
pea	pea
turnip	potato
buckwheat	no match available
sunn_hemp	soybean
lentil	lentil
sweet_corn	maize
pop_or_orn_corn	maize
watermelon	no match available
teff	no match available
pumpkin	no match available
sugar_beet	sugar beet
wheat_durum	wheat
faba_bean	fava bean
hemp	no match available
camelina	rapeseed
speltz	wheat
rice_paddy_short	rice
rice_paddy_long	rice