58 



nificant to these growers and certainly one that merits being ad- 

 dressed by the Congress. 



Senator Kerrey. Ms. Shand. 



Ms. Shand. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I am aware of the example that 

 is often cited of Pioneer pulling out of breeding research on Hard 

 Red Winter wheat, and to me, this really underscores the impor- 

 tance of public plant breeding programs. I just want to amplify the 

 earlier remarks of Dr. Barnes on the importance of continued 

 public sector plant breeding efforts. I think it is a terrible thing to 

 be threatened with the loss of breeding programs, but to me, this 

 as much as anything talks about the urgency of resurrecting public 

 plant breeding efforts. 



Senator Kerrey. Dr. Clayton, how much do we spend on public 

 breeding research? 



Dr. Clayton. Mr. Chairman, I can provide you the specific num- 

 bers, but I believe that the Department of Agriculture spends on 

 the order of $50 to $60 million a year on germplasm cataloging and 

 breeding research related thereto. 



Senator Kerrey. Has the amount and focus changed since the 

 PVPA was first enacted? 



Dr. Clayton. We probably would want to confirm this for you, 

 Mr. Chairman. Our belief is that there probably has been some 

 shift toward germplasm preservation away from breeding, but we 

 would want to confirm that to you. 



Senator Kerrey. My understanding is that the idea was that the 

 public research would focus after PVPA upon minor crops and 

 basic research, and I would hope that since 1970 that the shift oc- 

 curred, that, in fact, that is what we have been doing. 



Dr. Clayton. I believe that is the case. I believe that is what the 

 budget data would indicate. 



Senator Kerrey. Are you asking for more than that, Ms. Shand? 



Ms. Shand. I would be very interested in knowing. I think it is 

 an issue of great concern. I don't want to see the American farmer 

 left at the mercy of Pioneer Hybrid. Pioneer Hybrid is the largest 

 seed corporation in the world. If they pull out of plant breeding in 

 a specific niche market, that is a problem. But I would hope that if 

 it is an important crop or a minor crop that we would have some 

 public plant breeding efforts to reinforce the lack of commercial 

 breeding. 



And I would also say that I have heard that example cited over 

 and over. It is very difficult for those of us who have raised ques- 

 tions and concerns about eliminations of the farmer's right to know 

 to what extent and what difficulties the seed industry is experienc- 

 ing, other than these often-cited examples, but we really have no 

 hard figure on this, and I don't know if they are available or not. 



Senator Kerrey. Certainly you are not objecting to providing 

 protection to someone who develops a variety of seed and sells it on 

 the market. 



Ms. Shand. No, I am not. 



Senator Kerrey. Yes, Ms. Winterboer? 



Ms. Winterboer. Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to elaborate a 

 little bit more on the example of Pioneer wheat. They did testify at 

 our hearing, and Michael Roth, who is their patent attorney, stated 

 that they were making 10- to 12-percent profit on their wheat when 



