USDA Licenses 10 New Varieties

WASHINGTON - Sep 30/04 - SNS -- The USDA issued certificates of protection to developers of 10 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include barley, bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass.

The 10 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 10 certificates are:

- the Collins* variety of barley, developed by Busch Agricultural Resources Inc., Fort Collins, Colo.;

- the Rambo variety of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by J.R. Simplot Company, Post Falls, Idaho;

- the Blackstone variety of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by Pure Seed Testing Inc., Hubbard, Ore.;

- the Picasso and Rembrandt varieties of tall fescue, developed by Lebanon Seaboard Corporation, Huntsville, Utah;

- the Zanzibar variety of tall fescue, developed by Pure Seed Testing Inc., Rolesville, N.C.;

- the Minotaur variety of hard fescue, developed by Turf Merchants Inc., Tangent, Ore.;

- the Churchill and Affirmed varieties of perennial ryegrass, developed by Lebanon Seaboard Corporation, Huntsville, Utah; and

- the Jet variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by Pennington Seeds Inc., Madison, Ga.

* 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.