The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of eighteen new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants.  They include barley, bean, cockscomb, corn, cotton, verbena, and wheat.

The eighteen 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 eighteen certificates are:

• the Spaulding* variety of barley, developed by Plant Breeders 1 Inc., Moscow, Idaho;
• the La Paz variety of field bean, developed by AmeriSeed, LLC, Boise, Idaho;
• the Celkocrea and Celkopi varieties of cockscomb, developed by Celex B.V., Valkenburg, The Netherlands;  
• the PH9HP variety of field corn, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Johnston, Iowa;
• the ST 4575BR and ST 4686R variety of cotton, developed by Monsanto Technology, LLC, St. Louis, Mo.;
• the Raider Amethyst variety of prairie verbena, developed by Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas;  
• the Wendy* variety of common wheat, developed by South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, Brookings, S.D.;
• the Nick variety of common wheat, developed by WestBred, LLC, Bozeman, Mont.;
• the 25R63, 25R51, 26R22, and 8404 varieties of common wheat, developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Windfall, Ind.;  
• the Rachel* and MPV 57 varieties of common wheat, developed by Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc., Blackburg, Va.;
• the Glenn* variety of common wheat, developed by NDSU Research Foundation, Fargo, N.D.; and    
• the Primo D’oro variety of durum wheat, developed by WestBred, LLC, Bozeman, Mont.

* 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 (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/pvpindex.htm.