The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of eight new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include cotton, ryegrass and wheat.

The eight certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require that the varieties be new, distinct, uniform and stable. The owners will have the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, import and export their products in the United States for the duration of protection.

The eight certificates are:

• the OA-265BR variety of cotton, developed by O & A Enterprises Inc., Maricopa, Arizona;
• the ST 4646B2R, NG 1553R and NG 2448R varieties of cotton, developed by Emergent Genetics Inc., Memphis, Tennessee;
• the Fiesta 3 variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by Pickseed West Inc., Albany, Oregon;
• the Truman* variety of common wheat developed by The Curators of the University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri;
• the Sturdy 2K* variety of common wheat, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas; and
• the Triple IV variety of common wheat, developed by WestBred LLC, Bozeman, Montana

* In the United States, seed of this variety (1) shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed and (2) shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time- limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed- reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers. For additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/pvpindex.htm.