Idaho Patent of the Month – July 2022
1000 Spring Mill, LLC is an Idaho-based, locally-owned company focused on creating and producing products that benefit their community. They use organic and regenerative approaches to agriculture in order to improve soil and seed health.
Recently, the company has developed a solution for preserving and storing seeds long term. Typically, heirloom seeds can only be stored for 3 years in a cool, dark place. Even still, they lose over 50% of their germination ability. If exposed to even a slight amount of humidity, the seed will begin to germinate or mold.
With 1000 Spring Mill’s design, the seeds can be safely stored even longer than 3 years without molding, rotting, or prematurely germinating. A hermetically sealing process and an inert gas prevent any detrimental effects from oxygen, light, or moisture. Using QR coded data, each container is set up with data about the seeds (i.e. seed type and storage needs) to optimize preservation. The storage containers can be processed using this data to ensure they always have the ultimate climate conditions.
For instance, if a seed needs a dehumidified and inert atmosphere, the seed container will be placed in a vacuum chamber which removes all oxygen and atmospheric moisture. Once this step is complete, the chamber continents are cooled to below freezing and the vacuum process is halted. The chamber is then flooded with gaseous nitrogen to create and maintain a dry atmosphere and the container is sealed. This atmosphere creates an unlimited storage life, regardless of the conditions outside of the container.
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