The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Seed Laboratory will move to a temporary location at the Beneficial Insect Laboratory at 950 E. Chatham St. in Cary beginning Nov. 29.

The move will mean the lab will close for a week. Lab users shipping samples through FedEx or UPS will need to send them to a new address.

“The seed laboratory will be closed for the week of Nov. 29 through Dec. 3 to accommodate the movement of equipment, supplies and staff,” said Gene Cross, director of the Plant Industry Division. “Full testing services will resume Dec. 6 at the NCDA&CS Beneficial Insects Laboratory in Cary. Our goal is to minimize the interruption of service to our customers.”

Beginning Dec. 6, seed samples sent through:

• The U.S. Postal Service will need to be addressed to NCDA&CS-NC Seed Laboratory, 1060 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C., 27699-1060;

• Fed-Ex or UPS will need to be addressed to NCDA&CS-Beneficial Insect Laboratory, 950 E. Chatham St., Cary, N.C., 27511.

The move is happening because of the needed replacement of the heating and air-conditioning system and renovation of the seed laboratory in the Old Health Building in downtown Raleigh. The work is expected to take six to eight months.

Starting Dec. 6, contact numbers for the seed lab will be (919) 233-7072 or 233-7073.

The North Carolina Seed Laboratory provides support for both the regulatory and service work of the NCDA&CS seed and fertilizer field specialists, seed dealers, producers, consumers and university researchers. Testing focuses on purity and germination rates for seeds, accelerated aging, Round-Up Ready tolerance, sand and moisture content.