News section

Protected seed varieties require proper labeling
Amarillo, Texas
February 11, 2005

Picking up a load of elevator-run seed wheat used to be a common practice, but today it could be a costly one - and not just for the producer. That's because the Plant Variety Protection Act is being enforced.

An elevator can't sell multiple protected varieties of wheat mixed together as bin-run seed without violating the act, said Dr. Gaylon Morgan, Texas Cooperative Extension small grains specialist in College Station.

Morgan, speaking at the Texas High Plains Grain Elevator Workshop on Tuesday here, said anyone -- from the producer to the seed cleaner to the marketer -- can be brought into a civil suit.

The law protects the intellectual property rights of developers of new varieties of plants.

As it was written in 1970, the act allowed a farmer to save enough seed to plant on his own land or rented land or sell that amount of seed to a neighbor if his plans changed.

In 1994, the law changed. Farmers can no longer sell saved seed to anyone without permission from the variety owner. Also, Title V of the Federal Seed Act specifies that varieties must be sold by variety name and only as a class of certified seed.

Wheat seed of a protected variety sold with the label "Variety Not Stated" or as "brown bag seed"also violates the Plant Variety Protection Act, Morgan said.

Enforcement of the PVP Act in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and several other states landed several individuals, including sellers, seed conditioners and buyers, in court last year, he said.

Damages awarded by a court must at least compensate a variety developer for the infringement, but the court can award up to triple damages when the violation is found to be willful, according to the regulation.. In addition, violation of any part of the Federal Seed Act, including Title V, is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,000, Morgan said.

It's a chance Attebury Grain, headquartered in Amarillo, doesn't take -- not since the enforcement started. Stephen Tillery, a member of the Tri-State Chapter of Grain Elevator and Processing Society, said his company now has a seed company that sells all of its seed.

"Elevators sell elevator-run wheat and the farmer just picks it up, but now if it is sampled and has a protected variety in it, it's a problem for the elevator and the farmer," he said.

While the elevator still custom cleans wheat for farmers, producers must supply information to ensure they are within the regulations of the law, Tillery said.

The bin-run that contains a protected variety can't be sold for graze-out-only purposes or for a cover crop without violating the law, Morgan said. It can be sold for animal feed, but he recommended the elevator get documentation from the buyer that it would not be used as seed.

Any patented seed, such as Clearfield wheat or Roundup Ready crop, cannot be kept by the individual or resold under any circumstances, Morgan said.

The purpose of the protection act is to encourage development of non-hybrid varieties of self-pollinated crops, such as wheat, he said.

New crop varieties take about $1 million and 10 to 14 years to develop. This allows the companies to recoup their investment, Morgan said.

Most varieties grown or released since the mid-1990s are protected. Virtually all varieties that are currently being released by the industry or universities are protected, he said. If a variety is older than 18 to 20 years, it probably is no longer protected.

To find out if a variety of seed is still protected, go to www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/pvplist.pl, Morgan said.

A third party, such as an elevator, can clean and condition a reasonable amount of seed for a farmer as long as the seed will be planted by the farmer. Morgan said elevator operators who do this might want to get a document from farmers stating the seed does not violate the laws or patents.

News release

Other news from this source

11,363

Back to main news page

The news release or news item on this page is copyright © 2005 by the organization where it originated.
The content of the SeedQuest website is copyright © 1992-2005 by SeedQuest - All rights reserved
Fair Use Notice