USDA in search of candidates for Plant Variety Protection Board

Dec 30, 2014

Board advises secretary about Plant Variety Protection Act

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) is seeking candidates to join the Plant Variety Protection Board (PVPB) in 2015.

The Board provides guidance to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack about the proper rules and regulations of the Plant Variety Protection Act.

The Board is made up of 14 people from different aspects of plant development. They’re appointed by Secretary Vilsack and include seed industry and farmer representatives. Members serve on a voluntary basis except for expenses the government deems reimbursable.

The Act, which passed in 1970, is designed to provide developers with piece of mind that they’ll be able to recover some of the cost of their research. In 1994 the Act was amended to include potatoes and other tuber crops (crops with an underground way of allowing for new crops to grow.)

Under the Act, protection means protected plant varieties can only be sold by those with a certificate for the product, or with the owner’s permission.

The current Board’s term expires in May 2015 and anyone interested must submit a nomination package by February 6, 2015.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.