What seed is legal to save?

Josh in Pa · Mar 7, 2012

I would like to save some seed and am not sure which seed is legal to save. I believe all public seed varieties are legal to save and sell, but I can"t find this seed available. Am I correct that patented seed is not legal to save, but seed protected under pvp is legal to save but not to sell? How can I tell if seed is patented? I am interested in small grains, and conventional soybeans. Does anyone have a source for public variety seed? Thanks,
Josh

Anonymous-0 · Mar 7, 2012

Good question. I don't know the answer but maybe your cooperative extension office can help.

bjb in TX from Ne · Mar 7, 2012

Aside from legal concerns you can't save "hybrid" seeds successfully. The crop from the second generation will not be uniform like the first generation. Only "true to type" or non-hybridized (heirloom) strains propagate uniformly through subsequent generations. Google Mendelev and his pea experiments for more details.

I would imagine most "heirloom" strains would be in the public domain and free to save.

Deano · Mar 7, 2012

Monsanto has been very quick to sue those who are saving their roundup ready product. It is based on the presence of their patented gene. Problem is when you plant non r-r beans and your neighbor does they will cross pollinate and your crop will pick up the patented genetic trait through nothing you have done or could even prevent. You now can be held liable if selling them for seed or even for your use as seed. They have put numerous guys out of business that were doing on site seed cleaning. Makes no sense to me but I'm not a lawyer.

GeneMO · Mar 7, 2012

I have been thinking of doing some of this also. I have a creek bottom field that has been in grass since 1966. No herbicides. I think the green weinie folks are gonna start insisting that their "free range" chicken eggs also be fed non -GMO grain.

I would like to get hold of some of the old fashioned corn. I remember my dad talking about the open pollinated Reeds yellow dent.

I know you can save your own soybean and wheat seed, as long as it is the old, non GMO seeds. Your local feed store or seed dealer should still be able to get hold of some non GMO seed.

Gene

GeneMO · Mar 7, 2012

There is tons of info on the web.

Gene

http://www.landrethseeds.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=4538

Anonymous-0 · Mar 7, 2012

A quick trip around the web on this question turned up a lot of info. There is a lot of seeds available that are "public domain" that can be saved. Monsanto's original RR soybeans become p.d. in 2014.

Case Nutty 1660 · Mar 7, 2012

I have an address for a man who sells open pollenated corn if you like e-mail is open cnt

tjdub · Mar 7, 2012

<a href="http://www.upov.int/pluto/en/">Plant Variety Database</a>

It's not very easy to use, but this database is where you can search for a variety to see if there's still a patent on it.

For example, if you want to find all the varieties of corn that have been patented before and now have expired patents set End Type to "EXP" and Botanical Name to "Zea mays L". The "Denomination" field is the name the breeder gave to the variety. Corn is probably a bad example though since almost every one of those patents is probably for a hybrid, so even though you could re-create the hybrid, it still takes you an extra year to make the seed.

Anyway, there's a company called <a href="http://www.victoryseeds.com">Victory Seeds</a> that specializes in open-pollinated heirloom seeds. I'm not sure if every variety they sell is off-patent, but I'm sure most are and they can tell you.

hd6gtom · Mar 7, 2012

R H SHUMWAY has that type of seed in their garden catalogue.

paul · Mar 7, 2012

> I know you can save your own soybean and wheat seed,

Not always. Rather than fight them, the other seed developers - even Iowa University - have also patented & protected their developments, some of the better yielding food-type soybeans come from Iowa U and you need to pay a royalty fee. They follow the money....

As mentioned, there are 2 types of patents, one you may save seed for your own use only, the other you can't do that even.

--->Paul

ChrisinMO · Mar 7, 2012

We raise chickens, eggs and pork and sell it retail locally. In the last year we have had a few people decline to purchase from us because we get our grain from a local feed mill and therefore it is most likely gmo. I would love to use organic, etc, etc feed for these animals, but our customers would have to be ready, willing and able to pay us up to 4 times more than we are charging right now. A lot of people want better food, but they are not interested in paying for it.

Christopher

What seed is legal to save?

Josh in Pa

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bjb in TX from Ne

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