Billy Maddox planted 100 acres of Roundup Ready soybeans this year. The big news is he didn’t pay Monsanto a dime.
It’s been 20 years since Monsanto developed its first genetically modified crops. Now some of its early patents are starting to expire, leading to the first “generic GMOs”—off-patent seeds that cost half as much and which farmers are free to save and replant.
Maddox is a seed dealer who works with conventional varieties. This year was the first time he ever sold any GMOs. From the acres he planted he was able to collect thousands of bags of seeds genetically engineered to resist glyphosate, the weed killer Monsanto markets as Roundup.
“We cleaned it, bagged it, and sold it. I tried to make a little bit of money,” says Maddox. “Oh yeah, the farmer saves money. If they buy it from me this year, they can plant for themselves next year.”
Monsanto says it’s not worried about the patent expiration. It developed a new version, Roundup Ready 2, several years ago that it says works better and whose patents are still in force. A third generation is pending approval.
The generic GMOs planted by Maddox were developed at the University of Arkansas by plant breeder Pengyin Chen, who spent several years mating plants in order to move the Roundup resistance gene, which originated in a bacterium, from Monsanto’s seeds into a different type of soybean in development at the university.
The resulting variety is called “UA5414RR,” and so far the university has sold 2,400 bags mostly to seed dealers, who are growing more of it. Each bag weighs 50 pounds, holds about 140,000 seeds, and is enough to plant one acre.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: As Patents Expire, Farmers Plant Generic GMOs
