August 10, 2007

The 1994 amended Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) protects most commercially available private and public wheat seed varieties from unauthorized reproduction. Dealers, seed cleaners, and consumers need to know how this affects them.

Wheat not labeled as a specific variety or designated as Variety Not Stated (VNS) still must follow PVPA regulations if it contains seed produced from a variety protected by the 1994 PVPA. Retail stores often refer to these types of wheat as pasture wheat, grazing wheat, wildlife food plot wheat and brown bag wheat.

Seed companies and public institutions that own protected varieties may pursue and prosecute people who violate the PVPA. This may include grain dealers and producers, owners of retail operations, and consumers who purchase and/or sell PVP seed for planting purposes. It is a violation to plant such seed for any purpose, including non-traditional uses, such as wildlife food plots, erosion control, livestock forage grazing, and others. Seed produced from a PVPA variety with 1994 amendments cannot be sold, advertised, offered, delivered, consigned, exchanged, or exposed for sale without permission from the proprietary seed owner. In addition, no one can try to buy, transfer, or possess the variety in any way. It also is illegal to clean or condition such seed to sell for planting purposes.

Retail dealers, seed cleaners, and consumers all are legally responsible for these violations. For example, a dealer cannot legally buy wheat grain from a grain elevator (which may contain a mixture of multiple PVP varieties) and sell that wheat seed for planting unless the dealer has permission from the proprietary seed owner(s). Both the dealer and grain elevator are liable in this situation.

Also, a consumer cannot buy for planting any mixed or "variety not stated" wheat that contains a PVP variety. In addition, a PVPA Title V variety can be bought only as a class of certified seed from an authorized seed dealer. Each unit of seed must have a certification label that states the class of certification. The label must be from an official seed certification agency.

No one can replant a wheat variety that contains a patented gene, such as Clearfield, for any reason. An exemption to the 1994 amended PVPA allows growers to collect and save seed produced from any legally purchased PVPA-protected variety. They can use this seed only for their own future planting, but they cannot sell, trade, or transfer it to others for planting purposes.

Steve Knox
Manager
Nebraska Crop Improvement Association