34 



seed company. We hate to see a law written where the day the law 

 takes effect we know in fact members of your agricultural commu- 

 nity within your district are going to be made into violators of the 

 law just in doing what it is that they normally do. We hate to see 

 that take place. 



We believe strongly that the person we wish to protect, the farm- 

 er we wish to protect and the person that the seed companies 

 would want to pursue for violation of this act are not the same per- 

 son. So we think that we can identify an amount of sales that 

 would allow the farmer to be protected through an automatic li- 

 censing agreement, and the seed companies would be done no harm 

 because it is strictly not the person who is out there moving the 

 large amounts of brown bag seed and causing the problem. 



So we believe it is a balanced approach. It acknowledges the re- 

 alities of what happens out there in the real world as well as the 

 need to reward the seed companies for their activities. I am ready 

 for any questions that anyone has. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Keeling appears at the conclu- 

 sion of the hearing.] 



Mr. Stenholm. Next, Mr. Strouts. 



STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE STROUTS, FARMER AND 

 CERTIFIED SEED DEALER, STROUTS SEEDS, INC. 



Mr. Strouts. Mr. Chairman, good afternoon. 



My name is Lawrence Strouts. I am from Wilsey, Kansas, and 

 I am pleased to be here today to discuss H.R. 2927, the Plant Vari- 

 ety Protection Act Amendments of 1993. 



I would like to thank Congressman Roberts for inviting me here 

 to Washington to talk about these important changes to the PVPA. 

 I appreciate his hard work, and I am glad that I have a chance to 

 talk directly to you and the subcommittee about my concern as a 

 farmer and a seedsman. 



I am very concerned about the content and enforcement of some 

 parts of the Plant Variety Protection Act. 



I wear two hats. One is that of a seedsman who observes that 

 many farmers grow and sell PVPA seeds with little or no regard 

 to the consequences. This is the cap of the Kansas Crop Improve- 

 ment Association. It is the official certifying agency of the State of 

 Kansas for which I produce seed. 



The other hat is that of a farmer who sees fewer new varieties 

 and less research being conducted toward producing new varieties 

 that will ward off diseases and insects that attack our wheat crops. 

 The results are lower yields and reduced profits. 



I would comment that when our new varieties come out — and we 

 are introducing two or three this year in Kansas — they only last 

 about five years. They are good when they first hit. I doubt that 

 we will be producing them in the year 2000. They don't run out, 

 but the insects and the diseases mutate and just take care of them. 



As a seedsman, I grow registered and certified wheat seed as it 

 is released from Kansas State University. Generally, these releases 

 are to category I seedsmen on a county-by-county basis and often- 

 times in rather small amounts. I feel it is my responsibility to prop- 

 agate wheat by PVPA rules and provide my farmer customers with 

 the best available seed. 



