Agricultural News
As Wheat Planting Season Nears- Invest Time into Understanding the Plant Variety Protection Act
Wed, 10 Aug 2016 18:52:34 CDT
A vast majority of the wheat varieties grown today are protected by the Plant Variety Protection Act, which is often abbreviated as PVP or PVPA. This is a federal law that protects the varieties as intellectual property of the plant breeders, seed producers, and those who have funded variety development. Varieties are usually protected for 20 years for most crops. While this law was originally passed in 1970, enforcement has started to pick up in recent years causing a much needed refresher on what can and cannot be done with seed wheat.
OSU acquires PVP-protection for new wheat cultivars to protect everyone's (OSU, farmers, taxpayers, etc.) collective investment in variety development. Due to the time (10-15 years) and resources invested, developing a new wheat variety can be very costly. The PVP is simply protecting the investments of the farmers and OSU so new varieties can be developed.
Title V of the Federal Seed Act is a law that states that PVP-protected varieties can only be sold as a class of certified seed and by variety name. The PVP law also states that the seller must give notice that the seed lot is a PVP variety. It is against the law for growers to purchase wheat as "variety not stated (VNS)", "bin run", "pasture wheat", "brown bag", etc. if they know that it is a PVP-protected variety or advertised as such.
The PVP law protects Oklahoma farmers' investments in wheat variety development and it also allows farmers to save seed for replanting. Farmer-saved seed can be planted on the farmer's own or rented land. The PVP is in place to prevent buying, selling, transferring, giving away, or trading of the protected seed wheat for planting purposes without proper paperwork and explicit permission from the variety owner.
To find out if a particular wheat variety is PVP-protected you can search the USDA-ARS database by clicking here. To review the PVP in its entirety- click or tap here.
In addition to seed laws previously mentioned, some varieties have utility patents. These are granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Wheat varieties with a utility patent can only be used for crop production and the seed cannot be saved, resold, or replanted. Examples of utility patents include traits like Clearfield®, Roundup Ready®, Liberty Link®, etc. Unlike PVP-protected varieties, Clearfield wheat varieties cannot be saved and replanted by the grower because all Clearfield wheat varieties possess a utility patent with BASF.
There are many benefits to buying PVP-protected wheat varieties and certified seed wheat. With all of the time and resources invested, these varieties will typically have a higher yield advantage, improved trait characteristics, and can have better resistance to pests like diseases. Just keep in mind that the grower buying seed wheat can be just as liable as seed sellers if laws are broken.
Source- Dr. Josh Bushong, OSU Northwest Area Ag Agronomist
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