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departure of Pioneer] could definitely have an impact within our 

 own country." 



Lowell Burchett, executive director of the Kansas Crop 

 Improvement Association: "Wheat farmers have taken a real big hit 

 with the withdrawal of these two companies [Pioneer and Cargill]. 

 There's a lot less research going to be done on HRW wheat, and 

 from my perspective, that's not good to see." 



And Rollie Sears, Kansas State University wheat breeder Total 

 dollars for wheat research probably will be cut." The loss of Pioneer 

 is "a significant setback for all of us in the wheat breeding 

 community. Some of that (private company seed research] we can 

 pick up, but some of it's going to be lost forever." 



In addition, an editorial in the Farm & Ranch Guide said: "... we 

 can't help but think that producers will lose the benefit of having a 

 major company involved in wheat research. Competition is good, 

 and we need private companies involved in hard red spring wheat 

 research, along with NDSU (North Dakota State University) and 

 other universities." 



Also, a story in Farm Talk newspaper of Parson, Kansas, quoted 

 George Ham, associate director of the Kansas Experiment Station 

 at Kansas State University: "Plant breeding is a numbers game. 

 When breeders in the private sector fall out, it puts more pressure 

 on the public programs to come up with more competitive varieties. 

 We're very happy to get the germplasm [Pioneer is giving us]. But 

 the fact that Pioneer is getting out is a real loss to U.S. wheat 

 producers." 



For Pioneer and other companies to continue taking the risks of 

 investment in research ~ and at the same time remain profitable and 

 competitive — we must have more effective protection for the intellectual 

 property created by the research. 



Why is it important to ensure that research-based commercial seed 

 companies continue to prosper? Public sector plant breeding programs, 

 both government and university, face declining financial support. These 

 programs have a limited capacity. We are referring to the ability to 

 release an assortment of new varieties having different traits and 

 adaptations, rather than a single new variety from time to time. We do 

 expect that they will continue to make a significant contribution to 

 agricultural progress. However, much of that contribution will likely 

 come from their role in training future plant breeders and conducting 



