diff --git a/database/src/seeds/04_mock_test_data.ts b/database/src/seeds/04_mock_test_data.ts
index 21842c6e0..a46c22210 100644
--- a/database/src/seeds/04_mock_test_data.ts
+++ b/database/src/seeds/04_mock_test_data.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@ import { faker } from '@faker-js/faker';
 import random from 'geojson-random';
 import { Knex } from 'knex';
 
-// Disable mock data seeding by default, unless manually enabled
-const ENABLED = false;
+// Disable mock data seeding by default. Set `ENABLE_MOCK_FEATURE_DATA=true` to enable.
+const ENABLE_MOCK_FEATURE_SEEDING = Boolean(process.env.ENABLE_MOCK_FEATURE_SEEDING === 'true' || false);
+const NUM_MOCK_FEATURE_SUBMISSIONS = Number(process.env.NUM_MOCK_FEATURE_SUBMISSIONS || 0);
 
 /**
  * Sample query for performance testing.
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ const ENABLED = false;
  * @return {*}  {Promise<void>}
  */
 export async function seed(knex: Knex): Promise<void> {
-  if (!ENABLED) {
+  if (!ENABLE_MOCK_FEATURE_SEEDING) {
     return knex.raw(`SELECT null;`); // dummy query to appease knex
   }
 
@@ -49,9 +50,7 @@ export async function seed(knex: Knex): Promise<void> {
     SET SEARCH_PATH = 'biohub','public';
   `);
 
-  const numSubmissions = 10000; // Number of submissions (ie: surveys)
-
-  for (let i = 0; i < numSubmissions; i++) {
+  for (let i = 0; i < NUM_MOCK_FEATURE_SUBMISSIONS; i++) {
     await insertRecord(knex);
   }
 }
diff --git a/env_config/env.docker b/env_config/env.docker
index bcaecad14..7b42778fc 100644
--- a/env_config/env.docker
+++ b/env_config/env.docker
@@ -151,3 +151,11 @@ GEOSERVER_ADMIN_PASSWORD=geoserver
 
 ROOT_WEBAPP_REDIRECT=true
 TOMCAT_EXTRAS=false
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Seeding - Development
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Enable or disable the mock data seeding in '04_mock_test_data.ts'
+ENABLE_MOCK_FEATURE_SEEDING=false
+# Configure how many feature submission records to seed
+NUM_MOCK_FEATURE_SUBMISSIONS=0