Alexandria, Virginia
December 18, 2008
ASTA's motto is "First-the Seed." The challenge of the seed
industry today is how to inform growers, legislators,
regulators, the public, media and others that today's seed is
not the seed of our fathers or grandfathers. At CSS 2008, ASTA
unveiled a program that goes "Beyond the Seed!" Protection of
intellectual property for the seed industry is one of ASTA's
strategic goals. The Beyond the Seed Program will unite the seed
industry to communicate a shared message on the benefits of
intellectual property rights (IPR) to customers and policy
makers.
Designed to provide an array of tools, ASTA will be adding to
the informational resources available under the program over the
next couple months. A logo serves as the cornerstone of this
"Beyond the Seed" Program - highlighting the seed industry's
commitment to innovation, bringing performance on the farm. A
10-page brochure simply explains the Beyond the Seed Program and
provides a clear outline of information that supports the logo's
cornerstone message. These brochures will be distributed at
upcoming grower meetings and will be made available to
ambassadors and ASTA staff, members and partner organizations.
The accompanying wallet card is a great little give away that
emphasizes for nuggets for people to consider. It is a nice
piece to hand out at trade shows or for a seed representative to
tuck in the wallet for that quick conversation on the elevator.
 One
of the main outreach vehicles will be a standard presentation
that supports and emphasizes the messages of the Beyond the Seed
Program. Currently, it is in the final production stages, adding
the latest information on the seed industry from the two
economic research studies on the seed industry and the benefits
of IPR to growers, and ultimately, to consumers. Unique to this
project is that the standard presentation will not only include
notes for a seed industry representative to personally deliver
the presentation, but it will also have a voiceover option. This
will allow the option to "play" the presentation for audiences.
In addition, this version of the presentation will be available
on the Web site so it can reach a broader audience, making the
Web site more dynamic. The Web site will offer additional slide
options that will go deeper into explanations for those with
specific audiences or explaining specific technologies, or
drawing upon different case studies in development by Iowa State
University.
A Web site is critical in today's information highway. This
Beyond the Seed informational vehicle (www.beyondtheseed.org)
will allow us the greatest exposure to the broadest of
audiences, as well as serve as a resource for ambassadors, ASTA
members, staff and partner organizations. The Web site will have
a public section which delves deeper into the three areas
outlined in the logo - Commitment, Innovation and Performance.
Commitment will cover all seed and all technologies; innovation
will have an interactive matrix with general product pipelines,
and buckets of technologies which will allow audiences to zero
in on their area of interest by crop or technology; and under
performance, facts and studies will demonstrate how this impacts
growers in the management of their own operations. There will
also be an extensive section that is password protected. It will
include licensing information on the logo, access to download or
order the various tools such as the brochure, wallet card and
presentation, as well as the supplemental slides. The password
protected area will be developed over the next two months.
However, the public section will be up and running in the coming
weeks and will be added to over the next couple months.
The first Beyond the Seed Ambassadors will be ASTA staff and key
ASTA members who have been involved in developing the Beyond the
Seed Program since the inception of the idea. ASTA will be
reaching deeper into its membership to recruit good
spokespersons for this strategic area. If IPR is a passion for
you, then ASTA wants you in the legion of ambassadors. Training,
materials and resources will be provided to further this message
about IPR.
ASTA promotes the development of better seed to produce
better crops for a better quality of life. Founded in 1883,
ASTA, located in Alexandria, Va., is one of the oldest trade
organizations in the United States. Its membership consists of
approximately 750 companies involved in seed production and
distribution, plant breeding, and related industries in North
America. As an authority on plant germplasm, ASTA advocates
science and policy issues of industry importance. Its mission is
to enhance the development and free movement of quality seed
worldwide. |
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