During the 2012 American Seed Trade Association annual convention I met Chuck Larson, Executive Director, Americans for Choice and Competition in Agriculture. Although I had heard of this newly formed organization I didn’t know much about it until we had a chance to sit down and chat. It appears that the main focus of the group is to influence an accord being developed by the American Seed Trade Association and the Biotechnology Industry Organization to address how competition will be handled when biotechnology traits go off patent. The big one coming up is the Monsanto Roundup Ready soybean patent which expires in 2014. You can see the organization’s position on the accord here (pdf).

Chuck says the organization was launched in the fall of 2011 and currently has 3,000 members. He says “they all understand the great value of an event that’s going to be coming down the pipeline very soon. In March of 2015 we’re going to see the first seed trait come off patent.” He says every seed company will be touched by this issue in coming years. He says the accord being developed by ASTA and BIO will be very valuable. By handling this properly Chuck says “it will expand the number of researchers who will have access to the technology.” That will enhance greater competition which will benefit farmers.

Since it appears that ASTA and BIO are handling this issue very well I asked him what it is that his organization brings to the table on this issue. He says that although farm leaders understand the importance of this issue “they don’t understand what that pathway should look like to ensure that a trait coming off patent actually enters into the marketplace.” So it sounds like the data that went into the creation of the trait is what’s at stake here since the patent expiring doesn’t necessarily include the data. CHuck says they’ve been working to educate leaders around the country. One of the ways they plan to do this is with a Twitter conversation tomorrow afternoon from 2-4pm eastern, using the hasgtag, #seedtalk.

Information on who supports the organization is not available.

You can follow Americans for Choice and Competition in Agriculture on their blog, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Listen to this week’s ZimmCast here: Americans for Choice and Competition in Agriculture

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