The following is an edited excerpt.
Farmers have been using certified seed for more than 100 years in Canada. Very few farmers breed seed these days. In an opinion piece, Indiana farmer Brian Scott stated: “If we wanted to breed our own varieties, I’m sure we could, but I look at it as division of labour. Seed companies are great at coming up with great products.”
Nobody forces a farmer to agree to the terms of a seed purchase. If a farmer wishes to forgo the advantages of certified seed, he or she can simply use older, unrestricted crop varieties. There are hundreds of varieties in the public domain — off-patent or non-GM — that can be freely accessed.
Read the full post here: Monsanto court case not about save-the-seeds myth