b'Through the Lens of Robert Buker: How the PVP Act Came to BeSeed World documents an Insiders Account of the Authoring of the Plant Variety Protection Act.Julie Deering jdeering@issuesink.comIN THE HALLSof the life sciences building at Purdue University, a young and knowledge-hungry Robert Buker worked three-quarter time for the agronomy department and enrolled in one course at a time, eventually earning his masters and doctorate degrees. Summer, he says, was field time.It was the 1950s. Bicycles were ubiquitous, kids drank three glasses of milk a day, parents drank tea and fast food didnt exist. Conversations happened around the dinner table. That was also when the U.S. Department of Agriculture established the Agricultural Research Service and tractors finally outnumbered horses and mules on the farm.In my last year of school (1961), I got a call asking if six coopIf we had followed the direction of copyright laws, leaders could meet in my office, Buker recalls. It turned out, they wanted to form a new seed cooperative. it wouldve saved companies from an advertising This coop concept came to be Farmers Forage Researchperspective as you couldnt prevent someone from (later FFR), and was initially comprised of Indiana Farm Bureau, Ohio Farm Bureau, Land OLakes, CF Industries and five others. stealing your variety, but it wouldve had to be Bukers first day with Farmers Forage Research was Sept. 16,marketed under the original name. 1961, and his first job was to find a farm and arrange for its pur-chase. He found some acreage in Battleground, Ind., and from Robert Bukerthere designed and built a farm septic tank, greenhouses, a shop and office building.Just two years later, he was nominated as a director to the very-loosely organized National Council of Commercial Plantbreeding corn, soy and cotton, there was no protection in place.Breeders (NCCPB). While NCCPB was established in 1954, itFFR owned a couple patents; Plush, a highly apomictic wasnt formalized. Kentucky bluegrass, was one but I had to go to great effort to Buker explains he had to deal with antitrust concerns, getprove it wasnt seed, he says.articles of organization and an operating agreement in place, andBreeders and seed producers of crops such as alfalfa and purchase insurance. strawberries had protection because yields were such that the Being a coop and having insurance is a much more comfort- best seed production areas were out Westaway from Midwest able way to sleep at night, he says. growers. However, the best seed production areas for row crops At this time, when a breeder commercialized strawberrieswas right here in the Midwestthe same place as the actual or apples, they had patent protection, Buker explains. For thosecrop production.94/ SEEDWORLD.COMDECEMBER 2019'