24 



Senator Kerrey. Just for the record, Mr. Robinson, could you 

 state your full name and your company? 



Mr. Robinson. Yes. My name is Rob Robinson. I am with the J.C. 

 Robinson Seed Company from Waterloo, Nebraska, executive vice 

 president, and also chairman of the Intellectual Property Rights 

 Committee for the American Seed Trade Association. 



Senator Kerrey. Thank you. 



The next individual to testify will be Don Latham, who is a 

 farmer and a seed producer with the Latham Seed Company in Al- 

 exander, Iowa. 



STATEMENT OF DONALD E. LATHAM, FARMER AND SEED 

 PRODUCER, LATHAM SEED COMPANY, ALEXANDER, IA 



Mr. Latham. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. 



I am Don Latham, production manager and owner, along with 

 two of my brothers, of Latham Seed Company located near Alexan- 

 der, Iowa. 



Latham Seed Company was started by my father and mother in 

 1947. We operate through a farmer-dealer network of some 450 

 local dealers in communities in Northern Iowa, Southern Minneso- 

 ta, Eastern Nebraska, and South Dakota. We deal only with soy- 

 beans, currently offering 17 varieties of soybeans. 



I am here today in strong support of the amendment to the Plant 

 Variety Protection Act contained in S. 1406. Passage of this legisla- 

 tion will benefit small family-owned seed companies like ours and 

 is good for the American farmer. 



As a small family-owned seed company, research and develop- 

 ment is a significant expense for us. On gross sales of slightly over 

 $5 million annually, we have annual research expenses of more 

 than one-half million dollars. This research expenditure enables us 

 to breed and screen some 23,000 potential varieties each year. 



From this work, we hope to come up with one or two new varie- 

 ties which we can develop and market over subsequent years. It 

 takes 8 to 10 generations from the original cross to bring a new va- 

 riety to the marketplace, and its average life expectancy will be 

 only 6-7 years before it will be replaced by more productive varie- 

 ties. 



The only way we have to recoup this substantial investment is 

 through the retail sales by our local farmer-dealers. These dealers 

 depend on the revenue generated by sales to others in their com- 

 munities for part of their income. We help support their activities 

 through education programs and advertising targeted towards 

 other producers in their areas. 



One threat to this locally beneficial relationship is the unauthor- 

 ized sale of our varieties or those of other seed companies by farm- 

 ers who do not incur any of the development costs and risks I have 

 just mentioned. 



This type of activity is exemplified in Iowa by a lawsuit current- 

 ly pending between the Asgrow Seed Company and the Winter- 

 boers. According to court transcripts, in 1990 Becky and Dennis 

 Winterboer planted 265 acres with two Asgrow PVP-protected soy- 

 bean varieties. They harvested 12,037 bushels of soybeans and after 

 cleaning, 10,529 merchantable bushels remained. In 1991, they sold 



