CERTIFIED SEED ONLY AND PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION ACT

Many institutions have moved to implement additional protections on their crop varieties. This includes limiting planting to Certified Seed Only (CSO). This is an effort to more accurately capture the cost of developing and releasing a new wheat variety. This cost can be extremely expensive, in large part because wheat breeding programs test potentially hundreds of crosses across multiple generations and locations to identify one that is commercially viable. As part of purchasing a CSO variety, farmers must sign a Stewardship Agreement with the variety developer. The key regulation is that the farmer may NOT save any seed for planting a future crop. This is a contractual matter, not a legal one. If the developer of a CSO variety discovers a farmer in violation of a CSO agreement, they have the right to seek civil recourse through the courts. If a farmer is unwilling to agree to these terms, they should not purchase a CSO variety. There are numerous other varietal options available for planting.

THE PLANT VARIETY PROTECTION ACT (PVPA) (1994) TITLE V

Varieties with a PVPA certificate issued with a Title V option are protected to the extent that the seed production from the protected variety can only be advertised or sold as a class of Certified seed. The Title V option allows each farmer to set aside enough of their harvest to replant on their own acres for the upcoming cropping season. Protected varieties seed production can only be legally advertised or sold as a class of Certified seed. Legal protection for a PVPA-protected variety expires 20 years after the certificate is issued.