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Donald COLES -
Managing Director - Valley Seeds, Australia |
September 2002 |
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What prompted
your father to move in the direction of proprietary varieties
and what did the competitive field look like at the time?
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After
starting Valley Seeds and heading down the path of proprietary
products, he quickly realized that proprietary branding was
not enough and he could see a market for improved ryegrasses
for Australian sheep and cattle farmers.
Public breeders were not working on
ryegrass in mainland Australia, so he started breeding in 1975
in the hope that one day he could protect his varieties under
Plant Breeders' Right legislation. That protection did not
arrive until 1987, just in time for his second perennial
ryegrass. The first variety, Brumby perennial ryegrass, was
released in 1987. |
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