First dibs

U.S. growers should have the first opportunity to use plant varieties developed with tax dollars. That's the view of Richard Kinney, with Florida Citrus Packers. Kinney was a guest speaker at the fruit and vegetable advisory committee this morning and asked the group to consider giving their input to the USDA on the issue of how plant varieties are released by the Agricultural Research Service.
Kinney noted that the University of Florida has in place a program called "invitation to negotiate," which opens up plant varieties developed there to anyone willing to bid on the varieties, even growers from other countries. He said the citrus industry has raised strong objections to that policy and has succeeding in at least bending that policy. However, he noted ARS-developed varieties are released in the public domain for no charge. Kinney suggested the committee may want to give Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns input on that policy, and perhaps change it to reflect a preference for U.S. growers.

Discussion following the presentation indicated no real consensus on this issue. John Shelford noted that privately funded variety development is critical to gain a competitive advantage. He suggested that public funding used for variety development could be used for other industry priorities, such as the fruit and vegetable snack program.