International Crop Improvement Association

The International Crop Improvement Association, now named the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies, evolved from the Wisconsin Crop Improvement Association (WCIA), initially called the Wisconsin Experiment Association, organized in 1901 by Ransom Asa Moore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agriculture, with the help from the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Agriculture Long and Short Course graduates and farmers as means to improve and disseminate seeds. The Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies was established as the International Crop Improvement Association by Professor Ransom Asa Moore of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, when he presented a proposed constitution for the organization of a national crop improvement organization on December 2, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois. It was proposed that the organization be international rather than national to allow Canada to be a member. Professor Ransom Asa Moore was named the first president of the organization in 1920.