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Secretary of Treasury field order
Requested the gathering of seeds from those serving in foreign posts to redistribution to American farmers -
U.S. Patent Office Seed Program
Established seed collection and distribution effort -
USDA free seed programs
USDA distributed "public seed" to U.S. farmers for free -
Morrill Act
Established Land Grant College System, including experiments in seed production and distribution -
American Seed Trade Association
First industry interested group; sought to diminish or eliminate federal seed distribution programs. -
Hatch Act
Established college experiment stations -
Smith-Lever Act
Established cooperative extension service -
USDA seed program terminated
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Development & adoption of hybrid seeds
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Plant Patent Act
Established legal basis for patents for non-sexually reproduced plants (via grafting, cuttings, etc.) -
Glyphosate Patented
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Plant Variety Protection Act
Established Certificates of Protection for novel, sexually reproduced plants for an limited period of 18 years; allowed farmers to save these same seeds. -
Seed Savers Exchange founded
Among the first civil society organizations dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of traditional, land race seed varieties. -
Diamond v. Chakrabarty case
Codified the first patent on life (a bacterium used to treat oil spills). Precipitated the issuance of "Utility patents" for plants and seeds, including rights of exclusion. -
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange founded
Expansion of regional efforts to preserve traditional seed varieties -
Native Seeds/SEARCH founded
Expansion of the seed preservation efforts into Indigenous seed systems, especially in the southwest. -
Acceleration & Advance of agricultural bio-tech
GMO seed begin meteoric rise to market dominance -
Roundup-Ready soybeans introduced
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First evolved resistance to glyphosate recorded in U.S.
Rigid Ryegrass -
Agro-chemical seed consolidation
Four agro-chemical seed companies control 49% of the world's proprietary seed -
Monsanto Rider
Removed from Farm Bill -
94%
The percentage of seed varieties lost over the last century