Seed E-News

August 4th, 2003

ASTA Chairman Interview
Last month, ASTA Chairman, Don Wertman, was interviewed by SeedQuest, during which he addressed the issues, opportunities and challenges facing the American seed industry. Follow this link ASTA Chairman to read the interview.

EU Agricultural Commissioner urges US to drop WTO Biotech Case
On July 29, European Union Agricultural Commissioner Franz Fischler called on the U.S. to drop its complaint against the EU with the World Trade Organization. In Washington DC prior to attending a Montreal ministerial meeting to set the agenda for a later meeting of trade officials, Fischler, after a speech to a business organization, noted that he expects the EU to approve some GM food products later this year. Questioned by reporters about Trade Representative Zoellick's and Agriculture Secretary Venemanâs reactions to his view, Fischler said that the subject of GM foods had not come up with them. The basis of the US case at the WTO is the moratorium that several European countries have placed on approving new biotech products. The EU is currently putting in place a regulatory and labeling regime but the Bush Administration has indicated that it may continue with the case if the new regime is considered too restrictive.

Iowa State University leads effort to keep Market Choicesú corn out of commodity grain market
If you grew a Market Choices' corn hybrid this year, make sure to Know Where to Go with your harvest this fall. Market Choices' products are not approved for use in some markets, primarily the European Union, and must be kept separate from commodity corn. To remind growers of this effort, the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative (IGQI) and Iowa State University Extension www.extension.iastate.edu have produced 30,000 copies of a poster that will be distributed in late August to seed dealers, grain handlers and extension offices in nine Midwest states. Funding to produce the posters was provided by Dow AgroSciences LLC, Monsanto Company and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., the American Seed Trade Association, National Corn Growers Association and the cooperative, and grain and feed associations. Corn grower associations and extension programs in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin are supporting this yearâs program. If you grew Market Choicesú corn, this year, there are three markets for this grain, feed it to your livestock, sell it as feed to livestock producers or deliver it to a grain handler that accepts it. If you want to learn which elevators in your area will accept Market Choices' corn, visit www.marketchoices.info. This Web site provides information about Market Choices' products along with links to the organizations supporting this year's effort and the American Seed Trade Association grain handler database. The database provides information on which grain handlers in your area will accept your corn, usually with contact names and phone numbers.

National Plant Diagnostic Network
Responding to the concern about possible terrorist attacks on American agriculture, the first joint USDA/seed industry workshop was held on July 28-29 in Washington DC to begin building a system to respond to introduced pathogens that could threaten the nationâs food supply. Alexis Ellicott, Director, International Marketing, is leading on this issue for ASTA and she can be contacted on 703 837-8140 or aellicott@amseed.org. More information about the National Plant Diagnostic Network can be found here NPDN.

Producers, sellers urged to label GM food in China
Producers and sellers who fail to label genetically modified (GM) will face punishment, farming authorities in Beijing have announced. The Beijing Agricultural Bureau (BAA) launched a month-long inspection on genetically modified farming products on July 21. The national regulations governing GM farming products, which took effect on March 20, 2002, require that all products made from, or containing, GM materials should be labeled. BAA officials said that the products and earnings of enterprises in violation will be confiscated with additional fines ranging from $1,200 to about $6,000. Currently, GM-crop growing areas in China exceed 650,000 hectares and six GM plants, including soybean and rice, have been approved. Follow this link for more information GM Labeling.

USDA Special Analysis on adoption of Corn Biotechnology
On July 11, USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released a special analysis of the adoption of corn biotechnology in ten major corn producing states -- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. NASS began monitoring U.S. corn crop biotechnology adoption in 2000. The analysis provides data on the number of farms planting Bt corn and Bt acreage. Combined, the ten states in the analysis planted 61.3 million acres of corn in 2002, representing 77% of the corn area planted in the United States. Of that 61.3 million acres, 45.1 (74%) was planted with non-Bt varieties and 16.2 million acres (26%) with varieties containing the Bt gene. To read the full analysis, go to www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/bioc0703.pdf

Universities to share Intellectual Property
Fourteen public sector agricultural research institutions have agreed to facilitate access to each other's current and future patented agricultural technologies and are looking at ways of ensuring that new licensing agreements allow for the technologies to be used to fight global hunger and boost the U.S. domestic agricultural sector. A new initiative, the Public-Sector Intellectual Property Resource for Agriculture (PIPRA) has been established to collaborate in managing participating institutionsâ intellectual property. The institutions involved are Cornell University, Michigan State University, North Carolina State University, Ohio State University, University of California System, University of California-Riverside, University of California-Davis, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, University of Florida, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research; the Rockefeller and McKnight Foundations; and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. For more information on PIPRA, go to the website at www.pipra.org.

2004 International Seed Federation Congress
The 2004 International Seed Federation Congress will be held in Berlin, Germany, on May 24-26, 2004. Online registration for the congress will not begin before January 1, 2004. A website has been established at www.worldseed2004.com and, although not yet populated, information about registration, venues, accommodation, etc will be added in the coming months.

Upcoming Events

November 2-4, 2003
ASTA Farm Seed/Lawn Seed
Western Seed Association
Kansas City, MO. Tel: 1-888.890.7333
Events

December 10-12, 2003
33rd Soybean Seed &
58th Corn & Sorghum Seed Conferences & Seed Expo
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, IL. Tel: 1-888.890.7333
Events

June 27-30, 2004
121st ASTA Annual Convention
Wyndham Franklin Plaza
Philadelphia, PA. Tel: 1-888.890.7333
121st Annual Convention

Please direct all questions and suggestions to Petter Patterson at ppatterson@amseed.org.