Seed E-News

September 18 , 2007

Welcome to ASTA's electronic newsletter for members, allies and stakeholders. Please feel free to forward the Seed E-News to others you believe might wish to receive news about the seed industry. Questions, comments and your industry news are welcome — contact Jason Laney at ASTA. Past issues can be viewed here .

In the News ...

• U.S. Ethanol Expansion Driving Changes Throughout the Agricultural Sector
• EU Court Rejects Austrian Biotech Ban - Supports Right to Choose Biotech Crops
• Study Points to Virus in Collapse of Honeybee Colonies
• White House Issues Report on Fresh Water Availability Throughout the United States
• US Agricultural Trade Growth: A New Beginning or a Repeat of the Past
• US '09 Ethanol Capacity May Reach 20.43B Gallons
• Innovation and Changes in Technology Drive Agricultural Growth
• Global Crop Diversity Trust Featured in New Yorker Article
• Economic Returns to Public Agricultural Research
• Droughts Drive up Crop Prices, Spur Push for Engineered Seeds
• USDA Agencies' News Releases
• USDA Agency Reports

ASTA Farm & Lawn Seed Conference Registration Opens

ASTA's Farm and Lawn Seed Conference, held in conjunction with the Western Seed Association's Annual Convention from November 11 and 12, 2007 in Kansas City, is now open for registrants. The meeting will once again be held at the Westin Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

The ASTA program will begin on Sunday, November 11 with meetings of the ASTA Invasive Species Working Group and the Environmental and Conservation Seed Committee. The Lawn Seed Division and Farm Seed Division will each meet on the morning of Monday, November 12.

An historic and well-attended trading meeting, this event gathered close to 600 seed industry professionals last year. Registration for the conference should be sent directly to the Western Seed Association by October 8, 2007. Please contact the ASTA office at 703-837-8140 if you would like a registration form. For more information please contact Jennifer Lord or Leslie Cahill.

Conference Speakers

Farm Seed Division — Mark Murphey Henry from the Henry Law Firm will speak at the Farm Seed Division. A registered patent attorney who holds a Masters of Laws in Agriculture Law, Mr. Henry will ask, "Do you know which of your seed products are being illegally grown and sold?" He will also challenge participants by asking them if there is a better way to educate farmers about the Plant Variety Protection Act and patent law.

The Lawn Seed Division will feature Randy Graff, of Graff's Turf Farm. Graff's Turf Farms Inc. is a front runner in the sod industry, stressing quality, service and customer satisfaction. The company implements the latest in equipment and technological advancements to produce top quality sod blends that are rich in color, texture and durability. Graff's Turf Farms' products are known for sports turf facilities and golf courses, as well as the residential market. They are the proud provider of the turf at Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, and Folsom Field, home of the University of Colorado Buffaloes.

Environmental and Conservation Seed Committee — John Johnson, Deputy Administrator of Farm Programs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been invited to speak at the Environmental and Conservation Seed Committee's meeting. Mr. Johnson, a past participant at the group's annual conservation workshops is an expert on the Conservation Reserve Program and related programs. The group will be provided an update on the 2007 Farm Bill and conduct a discussion on the 2008 workshop priorities and Hill program.

ASTA and USDA Websites Provide Valuable Resources on States

The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) has compiled extensive agricultural information on each US state in the form of fact sheets that are available on the ERS website. ERS State Fact Sheets contain frequently requested data for each state and for the total United States, including current data on population, per-capita income, earnings per job, poverty rates, employment, unemployment, farm and farm-related jobs, farm characteristics, farm financial characteristics, top agricultural commodities, top export commodities and the top counties in agricultural sales. Click here to view the fact sheets. For more information on this resource, please contact Tim Parker.

Another resource for state information is ASTA's electronic Guide to State Seed Regulations. The on line guide was created in early 2007 and provides direct links to key seed trade resources in all 50 U.S states. In addition to seed laws, electronic links to the following information are included for each state:

• Contact information for the State Department of Agriculture
• Pertinent state laws and regulations
• State crop and seed association contacts
• State Farm Bureau contacts
• State seed labs and testing services
• Agricultural mediation or arbitration programs
• Licensing and permit information and application forms
• State inspection and certification programs
• Major state seed programs or initiatives, including foundation seed, native seed and organic certification programs.

Click here to access the Guide to State Seed Regulations. Any questions or suggested changes to the Guide should be directed to Leslie Cahill.

Seed Association of the Americas Holds Successful First Annual Meeting

The Seed Association of the Americas (SAA) held its first annual Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina September 5-7, 2007. The meeting, entitled "Promoting the Seed Business in the Americas" featured a day-long seminar on intellectual property rights, an active trading floor and meetings on other topics such as phytosanitary matters and biofuels.

The meeting was opened with an address from the Argentine Minister of Agriculture, Javier de Uriquiza, who recognized public & private researchers of new technology who contribute to the competitiveness of Argentine agriculture today.

Various speakers presented on the topic of Intellectual Property Protection, including Andy LaVigne (Pictured at left), President and CEO of ASTA and Mike Chapman, ASTA Intellectual Property Committee Chairman. In addition, a half-day panel discussion was held to investigate the numerous phytosanitary trade barriers that currently exist in the seed industry in the Americas.

The goals of the SAA are to encourage the production and movement of seed among countries in the Americas through cooperation on trade rules and arbitration, intellectual property, phytosanitary measures, agricultural and other policies affecting seed production and movement, coordination and support on seed issues in other international organizations, coordination on biotech and organic policies.

For more information on joining the SAA, please contact Alexis Ellicott on the ASTA staff.

Don't Miss Being Included in This Year's ASTA Suppliers' Guide

ASTA is currently in the process of completing the 2008 Suppliers' Guide. Back by popular demand, the Suppliers' Guide provides information on ASTA members that serve as suppliers to the seed industry. Last year, over 3,000 Guides were distributed to all ASTA members and meeting attendees. If your company provides products or services to the seed industry such as equipment, seed enhancements, and packaging, etc. and you would like to be included in this year's Suppliers' Guide, please contact Jason Laney by October 1, 2007. Sponsorship opportunities are also available, and if you are interested in serving as a sponsor for this valuable marketing piece, please contact Jason at 703-837-8140.

Register Today for Upcoming National Conference for Agribusiness to be held November 13-14, 2007 at Purdue University

The National Conference for Agribusiness at Purdue University is one of the premiere events for food and agribusiness professionals. Combining original research with innovative ways of approaching both familiar and unfamiliar problems, Re-Thinking Service Strategies: Innovations that Drive Profit will explore the concepts of service management and encourage participants to think strategically about how to manage service offerings for maximum impact on both customers and their firms.

Featured speakers and the topics to be covered at the National Conference include:

Assessing Service Opportunities: Understanding Economic Value to Improve the Success of a Market Launch
John Mann, Vice-President, Engineering
John Deere AgriServices, Inc.

Competitive Response and Escalating Expectations
Glenn Weckerlin, Global Director of Brand and Product Line Management for Chevron Global Marketing
Chevron Corporation

Determining Your Customers' Willingness to Pay: Tailoring Value Bundles - and Pricing Them - for Each Customer
Steve Watts, Vice President/General Manager
The McGregor Company

Delivering Impactive Service: Organizing for Effective and Profitable Service Delivery
Jerry R. Linzey, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Michael P. Ryan, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing
American Commercial Lines (ACL), Inc.

Establishing a Service Culture: The Invisible Architecture of a Magnetic Organization
Joe Tye, CEO
Author and speaker on values-based life and leadership skills

Communicating Value: Sales Strategies for Service Offerings and a Culture for Delivering on Promises
Sam Faggetti, Account Manager
Agriliance, LLC

The Personal Side of Service: 6 Secrets for Wooing, Wowing and Winning Customers and Their Loyalty
Phil Van Hooser, Owner and President
Van Hooser Associates, Inc.

Click here to register for the seminar or contact the Center for Food and Agricultural Business to learn more about discounts offered to teams of three or more employees from the same company.

Be a Part of History and Contribute to SeedQuest's New "Quest for a History of the Seed Industry"

Since 1992, SeedQuest has been aggregating current data and information of value to seed professionals. The resulting website is a steadily growing archive for the seed industry, a memory bank covering the last 15 years.

Now, SeedQuest wants to reach further back into the past in order to facilitate access to the history of the generations of breeders and seed growers who, for more than two centuries, have created increasingly high yielding and resistant varieties, shaped the seed industry, and made it possible to feed a rapidly growing world population. A true picture of our industry, its accomplishments, and the crucial role it plays, will emerge from the history of these individuals and companies.

This is a long-term project, approached the way one starts a giant puzzle. At first, only a few pieces are tentatively positioned but, as new pieces fall into place, the full glorious picture will slowly emerge. You can already see the first pieces here.

SeedQuest calls on its vast readership to contribute to this project and help build the gateway to our collective history. Please send us titles of publications, documents, books and articles on the subject, links to websites that contain relevant materials, leads to individuals and organizations that research this history, your own recollections of key accomplishments and events from years past, memories from previous generations, photos, etc.

All contributors will be given credit. For more information and to submit your contributions, please contact Francois Korn.

ASTA Staff Recently Took Part in the National Plant Board's (NPB) Annual Meeting

The National Plant Board is a non-profit organization of the plant pest regulatory agencies of each of the states and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

The busy conference schedule included speakers from various state plant pest agencies as well as from USDA-APHIS. Various topics were addressed during the course of the week, including invasive species management, nursery and landscape issues, international phytosanitary programs, biotechnology, regulatory reforms such as Q-37 and others.

The USDA-APHIS Biotechnology Regulatory Service (BRS) also updated the group on its initiatives. The BRS implements the APHIS regulations for certain genetically engineered (GE) organisms that may pose a risk to plant health. USDA-APHIS-BRS is currently publishing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which is a crucial step in the regulatory revision process. The draft EIS evaluates the environmental impacts of the current regulations and the potential environmental effects of the revisions under consideration. The EIS process provides a detailed analysis of the regulatory alternatives that BRS is considering and allows for public input and comment.

USDA-APHIS-BRS also reviewed the status of several biotechnology issues in creeping bentgrass, alfalfa and rice.

On the final day of the meeting, APHIS regulators held an "Open Forum" where budget and trade issues were discussed.

For more information on the activities of the NPB, please visit www.nationalplantboard.org or contact Alexis Ellicott at (703) 837-8140.

Company and Association News

Registration is now open for the Indiana Seed Trade Association Corn Belt Seed Conference to be held November 6-7 in Indianapolis, IN. The conference will feature sessions on technology, production and transportation; seed company presentations; a farmers' panel; and a vibrant trading room with numerous exhibiting companies. Andy Miller, Indiana Agriculture Director will also address the audience. Click here to register for the conference or view the complete schedule. For more information, please contact Sam Turpin.

Registration is also open for the Wild Bird Feeding Industry Annual Meeting to be held November 7-10 in Scottsdale, AZ. The conference, held at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino, will feature numous educational sessions of relevance to the wild bird feeding industry as well a golf tournament and networking reception. Click here for more information or contact Sue Hayes.

Click here for a schedule of additional industry events

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