Seed E-News

June 18, 2004

ASTA 121st Annual Convention
Pre-registration for Annual Convention in Philadelphia closed on June 14. After that date, you can register on-site. For more information about the Annual Convention, please see the links in Upcoming Events at the foot of the page.

ASTA Produce Industry Panel
Rod Stacey of Verdant Partners, LLC will be moderating a Produce Industry Panel at the ASTA Annual Convention in Philadelphia in June. There will be three panelists. The first panelist will look at the current marketplace for produce and what factors are driving consumer needs. He will also explain and give examples of what the retailers are doing to respond to these needs and what they in turn need from the grower/shippers and the genetics providers to do so. The second panelist will discuss the grower/shipper response to these demands and the third will deal with the seed industry response to these changes particularly the continuous need to shift towards more and more specialized products through genetics and other technology. Rod Stacey will then chair a Q&A session. He is encouraging the panelists to be candid in order to promote discussion.

ISF Congress, Berlin
Representatives of the seed industry in 58 countries participated in the 2004 ISF Congress in Berlin from 24-26 May 2004. In addition to ASTA, European, East European, Asia- Pacific, South American and African seed associations were represented. The general assembly on May 26, 2004 adopted 4 position papers in all and amendments to ISF trade and dispute settlement rules. These can be accessed via the ASTA web site here Arbitration. The 2005 ISF Congress will be held in Santiago, Chile, May 30 to June 1, 2005.

Ohio May Allow Farmers to Keep and Replant Seeds with Patented Technologies
Ohio legislators are considering measures that would allow Buckeye State farmers to keep and replant seeds with patented technologies. The legislation, H.B. 513 and S.B. 252, was concurrently introduced in both the House and Senate in late May by lawmakers from Trumbull and Ashtabula counties. To read more of this story from Farm and Dairy, follow the link.

European Commission Adopts "European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming"
In Brussels on June 10, 2004, the European Commission adopted the "European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming" which puts forward 21 policy measures including improving information about organic farming, improving production standards or strengthening research. This plan is a response to a rapid increase in the number of farmers producing organically and to a strong demand from consumers. For the full report from SeedQuest.com, follow the link. To read the full text on the EU web site, follow this link EU Action Plan. For the section of the action plan dealing with seed, including links to member states' organic seed databases, follow this link Seed.

EU Deadlocked on GM Oilseed Rape
Although last month saw the first crack in the European Union's GM ban with the approval of Syngenta's Bt11 maize, the European Union Regulatory Committee failed to reach agreement on approving Monsanto's GT73 rape in a vote on June 16. The decision will now be referred to EU Council of Ministers and if they do not reach agreement within three months the issue will be passed back to the European Commission who can adopt it. This meeting of the Regulatory Committee was the first time that the EU's representatives had voted on GM crops since the 15-nation club expanded by 10 members on May 1. The committee decides on the basis of qualified majority voting with member countriesâ votes based on population. For more on this story, follow this link EU Deadlock.

Summit to Examine Possible GMO Role in Feeding Africa
The west African country of Burkina Faso will be hosting a 3-day summit later this month at which west African leaders will discuss the importance of GMOs in boosting food production on the world's poorest continent. A statement from the US embassy in Burkina Faso was cited as saying that the US-sponsored conference in Ouagadougou from June 21-23 is to help the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) understand the science and technology of GMOs to help improve African agricultural productivity. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization has said that 23 out of 53 African states suffer from dire food shortages, primarily due to drought, and has suggested that biotechnology could help farmers in Africa and the rest of the developing world to feed another two billion people in 30 years.

Co-existence in North American Agriculture: Can GM Crops Be Grown with Conventional and Organic Crops?
A report issued by a British consulting company, PG Economics, Ltd., examines the issue of GM crops being grown with conventional and organic crops. It addresses whether the different crops have managed to co-exist and concludes that evidence to date shows that they have co-existed without significant economic or commercial problems. The report also considered whether the growth of the GM crop area impeded the development of organic crops and concluded that an examination of trends in the planting of GM and organic crops suggests that it has not. To read the full news report in SeedQuest.com, follow the link. To access the report in PDF format, follow this link Co-existence Report.

Soybean Rust Risk for the 2004 Season
In an article provided by Growmark, Inc., Iowa State University, Department of Plant Pathology assesses the risk of soybean rust, specifically whether the disease will show up in the 2004 season in the continental U.S., and what damage potential it will have if the disease arrives this season. Follow the link to read the full article from Seed Today Soybean Rust.

USDA Grants Protection to 23 New Plant Varieties
In Washington, DC on June 7, 2004, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued certificates of protection to developers of 23 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include corn, cotton, fescue, peanut, potato and wallflower. The 23 certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require that the varieties be new, distinct, uniform and stable. The owners will have the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, import and export their products in the United States for the duration of protection. The 23 certificates are:

• the 16IUL6 variety of corn, developed by DEKALB Genetics Corporation, DeKalb, IL;
• the N16028 variety of field corn, developed by The J.C.Robinson Seed Company, Waterloo, NE;
• the LH331, LH255, LH289, LH321, LH247 and LH322 varieties of field corn, developed by Holden's Foundation Seeds, L.L.C., Williamsburg, IA;
• the #820Y variety of sweet corn (F1), developed by Abbott & Cobb, Inc., Feasterville, PA;
• the ST 468 and ST 580 varieties of cotton, developed by Emergent Genetics, Inc., Memphis, TN;
• the Tamcot Luxor* variety of cotton, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, TX;
• the Cortez, Reserve, Axiom, and Wyatt varieties of tall fescue, developed by Advanta USA, Inc., Albany, OR;
• the Plantation variety of tall fescue, developed by Pennington Seeds, Inc., Madison, GA;
• the Tamrun OL 01* variety of peanut, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, TX;
• the UMATILLA RUSSET variety of potato, developed by State of Oregon, Acting by and through the State Board of Higher Education on behalf of Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR;
• the Charity Cream Yellow, Charity Rose Red, Charity Scarlet, and Charity Yellow varieties of wallflower, developed by Takii & Company, Limited, Kyoto, Japan.

* In the United States seed of this variety (1) shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed and (2) shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).Ê USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed- reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers.Ê For additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/PVPindex.htm.

Canadian Ruling Increases Doubt on GM Seed Patents
A ruling by Canada's Supreme Court that a company's patent on a gene covers the use of all products containing that gene may have reduced legal uncertainty about GM crops but has highlighted — and heightened — the political conflict over them. To read more from SciDev.Net, follow the link

APHIS Workshop on "Confinement of Genetically Engineered Crops During Field Testing"
USDA-APHIS BRS is planning a workshop, to be held September 13-15, 2004 at their Riverdale, MD Headquarters, to focus on confinement issues relative to PMP and PMIPs in corn, barley, rice, safflower, tobacco, as well as cotton. Mark Condon of the ASTA staff has agreed to serve on the workshop Steering Committee which will provide opinions on the organization of the Workshop as well as potential speakers, questions for discussion and references for a bibliography etc. The five main topics to be covered by the workshop are:

• Introduction to confinement and the principle of redundancy presented by APHIS
• Setting of isolation standards by AOSCA, scale and quality control measures (monitoring)
• Confinement analysis critical control points (CACCP) and quality control/monitoring
• Modeling tools
• Monitoring and sampling strategies to verify confinement (e.g., volunteers and geneflow)

To ensure that the seed industry has optimal participation in the workshop, ASTA members are encouraged to provide as soon as possible to Mark Condon at mcondon@amseed.org any recommendations for speakers, references, moderators, note takers, etc. More detailed information on this workshop will be provided to the ASTA membership in the coming months.

Comment Period Extended on Proposal to Exempt 100% Organic Producers from Research and Promotion Assessments
On May 25, 2004, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it is extending the period in which to submit written comments on proposed changes to commodity research and promotion programs. Comments are now due to USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service by June 25, 2004. The original deadline for submitting written comments was May 26, 2004.

This proposal would exempt producers and marketers of solely 100 percent organic products from paying commodity promotion assessments.

The notice of the comment period extension will appear in the May 26 Federal Register. Details of the proposed exemption were published in the April 26 Federal Register. The proposed rule and public comments are available at www.ams.usda.gov/2002farmbill/organicexempt

The 2002 Farm Bill directed USDA to issue regulations exempting any person who produces and markets solely 100 percent organic products and who does not produce any conventional or non-organic products from paying assessments under a commodity promotion law.

Comments may be sent via mail to Angela C. Snyder, Office of the Deputy Administrator, Poultry Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, STOP 0256, Room 3932 South, Washington, D.C. 20250 or via fax at (202) 720 5631.Ê Comments should be submitted in duplicate. Comments may also be submitted by e-mail to organicassessmen@usda.gov or on-line at www.regulations.gov

World Conference on Organic Seed
On July 5-7, 2004, a conference for stakeholders in the organic seed sector will be held at the headquarters of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome. Delegates are expected to include scientists, plant breeders, seed producers, farmers, certifiers, and others interested in organic farming and seed production. ASTA is represented on the conference organizing committee by Frederick 'Chip' Sundstrom of the California Crop Improvement Association. The conference is sponsored by the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM), the FAO and the International Seed Federation. The focus of the conference will be on the scientific and technical aspects of organic seed issues and participants will also evaluate regulatory requirements. Registration information and a provisional program can be found by visiting www.organicseedconf.org.

Industry and People
STA Laboratories announces the hiring of John R. Mizicko as Manager of STA Laboratories Seed Quality Services as well as assuming the position of California Regional Director for STA Laboratories, Inc. He was most recently employed as Vice President of Production at Harris Moran Seed Company where he was responsible for worldwide commercial vegetable seed production and purchasing. John has travelled extensively throughout the world evaluating production fields, field trials, and has worked closely with growers the world over to develop high qulaity seed products. John also directed the two seed product testing laboratories for Harris Moran Seed Company where he was responsible for seed health and genetic quality testing. John joins STA Laboratories staff at its Gilroy, California facility. For more, go to STA Laboratoriesâ web site at www.stalabs.com.

If you have any personnel changes, or other developments in your company, that you would like included in E-News, please send details to ppatterson@amseed.org.

Upcoming Events

June 27-30, 2004
ASTA 121st Annual Convention
Wyndham Franklin Plaza
Philadelphia, PA
Follow this link for the Program of events. Follow this link for information on Speakers.

November 7-8, 2004
ASTA 50th Farm & Lawn Seed Conference
Westin Crown Center
Kansas City, MO

December 8-10, 2004
ASTA 34th Soybean & 59th Corn & Sorghum Conferences and Seed Expo 2004
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, IL
Tel: 1-888.890.7333

January 22-25, 2005
ASTA 44th Vegetable & Flower Conference
Grand Hyatt San Francisco
San Francisco, CA.

June 19-22, 2005
122nd ASTA Annual Convention
Sheraton Seattle Hotel and Tower
Seattle, WA

July 7-14, 2006
Joint ASTA-CSTA Annual Convention
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, IL