Warren, Booker, Welch Lead Fight to Stop Big Ag from Ripping off Farmers and Families

Bill Text (PDF) | Bill One-Pager (PDF) Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) introduced the Fair Seeds for Farmers Act to stop Big Agriculture from abusing seed patents, reduce prices for farmers, and lower grocery costs. Just four companies control over 75% of the corn and soybean seed markets in the U.S, crowding out competitors and driving up prices for farmers through their abuse of the patent system. Although Congress previously passed legislation to balance the IP rights of seed companies with farmers’ and the public’s right to research, save, and use seeds, dominant seed companies have increasingly been reaching beyond these statutes to claim that seeds are also eligible for utility patents, which sweep far more broadly and do not include exemptions for seed saving, research, or experimentation. These companies have used utility patents to claim sweeping intellectual property protection over broad categories of seeds, allowing them to block smaller companies from developing their own seeds and force them instead to sign restrictive licensing agreements with the dominant seed companies. Giant seed companies also leverage these patents to force farmers to sign exploitative contracts that ban farmers from saving seeds (which make up about 25 percent of their operating budgets) between seasons to force them to buy new seeds every year, and restrict them from developing or experimenting with seeds. The Fair Seeds for Farmers Act addresses these unfair practices in two ways: Clarifies that the only intellectual property protections that apply to seeds and plants are the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA) and the Plant Patent Act (PPA). This provision applies to pending and future patents, but not existing patents. Prohibits corporate seed companies from contractually prohibiting farmers from saving seeds between seasons or limiting their use of seeds or plants for research, breeding, experimentation, or propagation. If signed into law, the bill would allow farmers to save seeds between seasons, which will lower farmers’ input costs and help reduce downstream food prices. The bill will also help smaller seed companies break into the market, which will increase competition and further help bring down prices. “For decades, Big Ag has ripped off farmers and jacked up food prices for families,” said Senator Warren . “My bill will break these companies’ stranglehold on seeds to lower grocery bills for Americans and give our farmers more freedom over their crops.” “When a handful of powerful corporations dominate the seed market, they can dictate which seeds get planted and the amount of independence growers have over the crops they produce—and the costs ultimately show up in the prices families pay at the grocery store,” said Senator Booker . “This legislation gives farmers the freedom to save seeds, restores competition to the marketplace, and helps lower one of the biggest costs of producing the food we all rely on.” “Rapid consolidation in the seed industry has had a direct and brutal impact on farms in Vermont and across the country. Big corporations’ abuse of the patent system is making farmers pay more to plant, and those higher costs are felt throughout the entire food system–the end result is families paying more at the grocery store,” said Senator Welch . “We’re taking on corporate power in the seed industry to keep family farms in business and lower costs for hardworking Americans.” Representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Greg Casar (D-Texas) introduced a version of this bill in the House of Representatives last week. The Fair Seeds for Farmers Act is endorsed by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Farm Action Fund, American Economic Liberties Project, Open Markets Institute, RAFI-USA, National Family Farm Coalition, Environmental Working Group, Northeast Organic Farming Association Massachusetts, and Organic Seed Alliance. ###