Here are some of the questions we’ll be asking the DOJ-USDA today – these questions reworded in various days depending on who is at the microphone.
Questions to consider putting on the question cards:
1) How does the department of justice define an “independent seed company”? For instance, does it, as Monsanto does, include the nearly 30 companies owned by American Seeds Incorporated, a Monsanto holding company?
2) In their comments to the Department of Justice, Monsanto claims “farmer choice is increasing with time”, is there an independent study or reporting mechanism that assesses the loss or increase of diverse, site specific cultivars from which farmers might choose? What are the objective and independent measuring rods of competition, farmer choice and benefit?
3) What enforcement powers/mechanisms are currently available to ensure that there is a strong, vibrant competitive marketplace for seeds with fair pricing for farmers?
4) What role have patents and intellectual property in seeds played in the rapid concentration in the seed industry? Have patenting and intellectual property rights stifled innovation and seed development? How do we measure its positive or negative impact on innovation?
5) What changes in existing federal policy are necessary to restore competitiveness to the seed industry?
6) If anticompetitive practices in the seed industry are established/proven, what sanctions/remedies should be imposed/applied?
7) Organic producers continue to not have access to adequate quantities of organic seed. Have organic producers been disproportionally impacted by seed industry concentration in that the independent regional seed companies who might have served their needs are disappearing quickly?
8) What actions will the federal government take, not only to have better competition amongst the top 4-5 companies, but to improve market conditions so regional independent companies can thrive?
9) We used to have Land Grant Universities that released public cultivars to farmers through regional seed companies. Our public agricultural research programs are struggling and so they take funds from dominant corporate ag interests and don’t release varieties. Competition between public and private was a good thing, and helped make sure smaller markets were served. What happened to our public institutions, and what is the federal government going to do to ensure that these institutions serve public interests and not the will of the corporate trusts?
10) When congress passed the Plant Variety Protection Act they allowed farmers and researchers to save seed both for usage and for further breeding. This was seen as a way of rewarding intellectual property but also keeping seed innovation healthy. The seed industry seemed to do just fine with the PVP prior to the allowance on utility patents. Why not return to the PVP as the sole form of breeders’ rights? Where’s the flaw?
