Plant Variety Protection
Title V Plant Variety Protection Benefits U.S. Agriculture and You
- Encourages development of novel wheat varieties
- Ensures better agronomic wheat varieties for producers
- Provides genetically pure varieties to the producer through the
use of certified seed
- Ensures on going wheat variety development by public and private
plant breeders
- Grants developers patent-like protection from the sale of protected varieties
- Promotes agriculture progress in the public interest
Buy AgriPro COKER Certified Wheat Seed…Your Ticket to The Best Seed Available
- All AgriPro COKER varieties are sold by variety name as a class of certified seed
- AgriPro COKER varieties are the culmination of years of research and testing to provide the best possible combination of yield, disease resistance, standability and grain quality
- They are field inspected and lab tested to meet state Seed Certification
Standards
- Buying AgriPro COKER seed from an AgriPro COKER Associate ensures you are buying the Highest Quality seed available
Want to Know More about PVP?
Plant Variety Protection Office General Information
Seed Companies Elevate Importance of Seed Research by Forming “Farmers’ Yield Initiative”
A shared belief among the seed industry is that high quality seed of improved varieties is the foundation for successful agriculture. A group of private and public seed companies, research facilities, seed associations and state commissions across five of the largest wheat producing states of Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, and Oklahoma, are lending support to an educational push branded the “Farmers’ Yield Initiative.”
The program is being endorsed by the Kansas Wheat Commission, which
is a grower-funded, grower-governed wheat products advocacy organization
with a mission to increase wheat producer productivity and profitability
through research, education and domestic and international market development.
The Nebraska Crop Improvement Association also lends its support to
the Farmers’ Yield Initiative, as NCIA is dedicated to enhancing
the economic viability and well being of the people of Nebraska and
the
world, through value-added products and processes.
The “Farmers’ Yield Initiative” or “FYI” informative
campaign will highlight
research, education, seed certification, and intellectual property
enforcement asauthorized under the Plant Variety Protection Act as
the best way to put higher yields and disease resistance to a farmer’s
crop. The FYI campaign will comprise a series of advertisements and
a cooperative effort to educate farmers and the public of the economic
and social value that the existing programs of seed certification and
PVP laws offer to the public at large.
Scientific Research is Critical to Farming’s Future
The FYI advertising campaign will begin by turning the farming community’s attention to the critical need to look forward to tomorrow’s varieties and to encourage scientific research to develop new varieties to benefit farmers. Dr. Robert Zeigler, Head, Plant Pathology Department at Kansas State University and Director of K-State?s Plant Biotechnology Center states that researchers at Kstate are searching for genes to achieve more durable resistance to wheat leaf rust, leaf spots, barley yellow dwarf, Karnal bunt, and Hessian fly. According to Dr. Forrest Chumley, associate director for research at Kansas State University, a failure to achieve success in the marketplace may lead to a decline in wheat research investments and lost research opportunities in the future.”
Private companies are also trying to increase farmers’ yields and disease resistance through crop variety development. Dr. Rollin Sears, a lead researcher for the Central Plains Region for AgriPro/COKER, comments, “Our traditional and high-tech varieties of wheat are developed with value-added traits that farmers need.”
Seed Certification Ensures High Quality
Another component to the FYI campaign is to educate farmers as to the economic wisdom already available to farmers through state seed certification programs. The FYI partners believe that these state certification requirements serve to strengthen the quality and reliability of the seed products and strengthen the industry as a whole. Seed certification standards are designed to ensure that all seed being sold meet minimum standards for genetic purity and identity, and the planting of certified seed provides assurance that the variety is true to type as developed by the plant breeder. Through the certification system, farmers can be assured of obtaining adequate amounts of genetically pure crop seed.
“Consumer protection is a large component of the seed certification process,” says Dr. Brad Erker, Director of Colorado Seed Programs. “Through seed certification, a farmer can know that his crop has a better chance of successfully germinating and that it will be pure, both in genetic uniformity as well as free from contaminants,” he said. “Buying certified seed gives farmers the confidence in a good seed product and that it is being sold through legal channels,” he added.
Maurice Miller, secretary/treasurer for AgVantage IP, states that farmers can rely on the seed certification program to identity preserve their varieties. He forecasts that, “in the years ahead, identity preserved products will become the major way most farmers can make some money in the farming game. I believe these efforts will create more room for profit margins that producers can keep.”
Enforcement of PVP Laws is Necessary
Congress passed the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVP) to encourage public and private developers to invest time and money into plant research and development. Intellectual property rights such as the PVP are merely tools to accomplish particular economic and social ends because the PVP rights expire after a relatively short period of time. This registration process has proven to work for there has been a significant increase in crop yields since the law was enacted.
Dr. Dan Biggerstaff, vice president of research and development for
WestBred,
LLC, comments “when a grower buys seed of a private variety and
pays a royalty, in a sense, that grower becomes a member of a research
program. That royalty money is then used to finance more research to
advance agriculture into the next century. Our success in this endeavor
will allow progressive farmers to maintain a competitive edge in agriculture,” he
reasoned.
Likewise, the Colorado Wheat Cultivar Program consists of a process that begins at Colorado State University with the development of new wheat varieties. Royalties from the legal sale of certified seed included in the Wheat Cultivar Program are collected by CWRF and net royalties are returned to CSU. The majority of those funds support wheat-related research programs at CSU and provide royalties to those researchers who developed the new protected varieties. The Colorado Wheat Cultivar Program has added a total of $550,000 to support the wheat breeding program and wheat related research, and all of this funding is from legal purchases of certified seed.
Enforcement of PVP rights takes many different approaches, including out-of-court settlements. Companies or people who sell PVP protected varieties without legal authority are at risk of federal lawsuits. Last year, some of the entities now supporting FYI worked together to collectively enforce PVP rights against an elevator in West Kansas caught selling different PVP protected wheat varieties.
Tribune Grain of Tribune, Kansas over claims by AGSECO, INC., AgriPro, and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, paid one out-of-court settlement of $50,000. In the settlement, Tribune Grain admits to selling TAM-110 seed wheat and other proprietary products in violation of the federal Plant Variety Protection Act and Title V of the Federal Seed Act. Under these laws, Tribune Grain is not authorized to sell, market, expose for sale, deliver, consign, ship, store, dispense to another party or condition proprietary seed without permission from the owners of the PVP protected variety.
According to Jim Sipes, President of AGSECO, “AGSECO is committed to protecting our intellectual property rights. The only way to ensure a continuing supply of new, superior varieties is to allow the breeder or developer of these varieties to recoup and re-invest in variety development. Violators of PVPA not only hurt the seed company, they also cheat the producers who lawfully purchase certified seed and support these breeding programs.”
The Plant Variety Protection Act permits farmers to save their own seed but not to trade or sell any of their production except as grain. Additionally, farmers who purchase illegally traded seed may be subject to penalties similar to those imposed on the seed seller. According to Mr. Paul Morano, National Marketing Manager for AgriPro Wheat, most farmers and seed suppliers understand and abide by the federal seed law. His advice to farmers, “if in doubt, ask for a tag on the seed you buy. A legal purchase of a PVPA protected variety will come with a certified seed tag or a bulk seed certificate. If a seed seller doesn’t have a tag for it, it could be illegal seed.”
The FYI ad campaign now offers a toll-free telephone number for those who wish to report the illegal sales of PVP protected varieties from unauthorized entities, including illegal farmer-to-farmer sales.
The anonymous reporting system is a good way for farmers who are buying seed through the legal certification system to put a stop to those who are not paying royalties for the technology. “We hear complaints from farmers and local seed dealers how illegal sales of PVP protected varieties are hurting everybody, and the toll-free number is a good way for people to take initiative to level the playing field,” says Brett Myers of WestBred. “The research and development for the seed industry is designed to work within a legal framework, and if more people participate in the legal system everybody will benefit,” he added.
To report violations anonymously and for a reward for information leading to the successful prosecution of seed theft, please contact us toll free at 1-877-482-5907
Bin Run Seed is Not Free!
Wheat $ 3.00
Interest $ .06
Storage $ .07
Shrink $ .02
Cleaning $ .50
Clean-out (less sale) $ .07
Trucking $ .20
Labor $ .10
Yield Loss @ 3 bpa $ 9.00
Total Cost of Bin Run Grain
Converted to Seed $13.02
Can you afford to not plant Certified Seed?
Need More Proof?
A Kansas State University Extension study* completed in 2001 shows that with the market price of wheat at $2.50 or higher, certified seed use gives a positive return over bin run seed with just a 2 bushel per acre increase.
You can run the numbers for your operation using this Certified Seed vs. Bin Run Calculator (Microsoft Excel file).
Most past studies comparing Certified Seed with bin run seed show at least an increase of 3 bushel per acre for Certified Seed.
Certified Seed doesn’t cost…IT PAYS!
*(For a complete copy of this study contact the Kansas State University Extension Service and ask for publication MF-2498.)
Is my variety protected?
The following link may be used to access/search the U.S. Department of Agriculture ARS-GRIN (Agriculture Research Service — Germplasm Resources Information Network) Certificate Status Database:
The following is a partial listing of AgriPro COKER varieties that are protected:
|
Abilene AP401 CL AP502 CL AP603 CL AP604 CL Art Baretta Benton Big Dawg Bradley Branson Charter COKER 9025 COKER 9152 COKER 9184 COKER 9295 COKER 9312 COKER 9474 Coker 9511 COKER 9553 COKER 9663 COKER 9803 Cooper Coronado Crawford Culpeper Cutter Doans Dominator Douglas Dumas Elkhart Fannin Freyr |
Gibson Hanna Hawken Hondo Jagalene Kelby Knudson Kuntz Lars Longhorn Mallard Mason Mitchell Natchez Nora Norpro NuDakota NuFrontier NuGrain NuHills NuHorizon Ogallala Paladin Palomino Panola Patton Platte PostRock Savage Saxon TAM 111 TAMcale 6331 Tamcale 5019 Thunderbolt |
|---|
Plant Variety Protection granted or applied for AgriPro COKER varieties. Unauthorized propagation prohibited.
Plant Variety Protected (PVP) varieties are sold only as Certified Seed
The PVPA provides for the sale of protected varieties only by authorized sources as a class of certified seed – no VNS or “brown bag” seed sales permitted.
Farmer-saved grain can be used only for their own planting
Farmers can save back and clean enough seed for planting on their own ground only.
Farmers may not sell or trade grain from PVPA varieties for other planting purposes.
Custom Seed Cleaners and Elevators are liable for PVPA violations
A custom seed cleaner/conditioner CANNOT clean a protected variety for planting as illegal seed. Combining PVPA seed from multiple varieties and returning like quantities is forbidden under the PVPA. Accepting and cleaning a customer’s Identity Preserved seed and returning that same seed to the customer is legal as long as it’s for planting on the customer’s own ground.
To report violations anonymously and for a reward for information leading to the successful prosecution of seed theft, please contact us toll free at 1-877-482-5907
For the first time in history, in a concerted effort to curb illegal seed sales, several wheat-related organizations across the High Plains have joined to form the Farmer’s Yield Initiative. Farmers understand the importance of property rights to protect their land and livestock investments, but the property rights of seed developers are often ignored. Dollars that flow back to seed research programs from royalties collected on the sale of seed through authorized dealers are critical to future development of better varieties. Nothing hurts the certified seed business more than illegal sales that bypass the rightful owners of each unique variety. FYI encourages all farmers and seed dealers alike to get involved by reporting illegal seed sales through the anonymous toll-free tip line 1-877-482-5907.
Plant variety protection granted or applied for AgriPro COKER varieties. Unauthorized propagation prohibited.