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South Central Kansas | At least five years ago it cost $1,000,000 to develope a wheat variety. I'm sure it is higher today, even with the double haploid tecnology. There is way more private money put into hard red winter wheat research than public funding. Yes, Kansas State, and other land grant universities provide reasearch and facilities, but Cargill, ADM, and other companies provide a lot of the funding.
One of the reasons that HRW wheat yields have leveled off in the last few years is that research $$$$ are not there in the same proportion as corn, soybeans, cotton, etal. I don't think wheat will ever command the reasearch $$$$ because many times it is raised in climates that will grow little else, in other words as a wise old fellow told me, "wheat is a poor man's crop". Corn is unique because you have to plant new seed every year, or you would lose the hybrid advantage.
All that said, the reason Kansas State and other wheat breeding universities are going after the PVP violators, is to help protect their investment and promote the use of certified seed. More certified seed grown and sold leads to more foundation seed sold at the university level and more $$$$ coming into the wheat research program. Before the days of the Kansas Wheat Alliance, K-State would not even try to prosecute the violators.
Going after the violators is long overdue. | |
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KSU to sue farmers over wheat usage
