When you’re reaching out to farmers to take spool orders, it’s good practice to check in about their permits. Make sure that they are permitted to grow the kind of seaweed you plan to produce. For example, in Alaska, farmers need to source wild parent tissue 50 km from their farm sites. Some states on the East Coast might require that sorus tissue comes from within state waters. In case you missed it, review this lesson on Know the Regulations to learn more about the specific rules in your state. 

It is important for you as a seller to set and communicate reasonable expectations to your buyers. One way to do this is through a contract. The contract does not need to be long or complicated, but it does need to clearly outline what both the nursery and farmer can expect from each other and where the nursery’s responsibility ends and the buyer’s responsibility begins. Send this contract to the farmers when you confirm their spool order. The contract should include points on pricing, timing, seed quality, a chain of custody of spools (i.e. who is responsible for the spools at what points), and what happens if your seed does not meet the farmer’s standards. We’ve included a sample contract below. Use this as a guide to draft your own contract that reflects the terms and best practices of your nursery operation.