A letter from our executive director Micaela Colley

As you planted seed this spring, did you think about how each variety was bred and produced? Or about saving some of your own seed this year? Maybe you wish your favorite variety had been available in a certified organic form.

If so, you are not alone.

According to Organic Seed Alliance’s data, less than 20% of organic farmers have access to enough organic seed to meet their agronomic and market needs. Most U.S. organic production relies on seed bred for chemical-intensive agriculture. These high-input systems, and the seed bred for them, lack agricultural resilience.

But statistics only tell part of the story. If you attended our Organic Seed Growers Conference earlier this year, you know that new partnerships are developing across North America. Diverse members of the organic industry are working together to ensure organic farmers have the seed they need to be successful.

Some of the most important partnerships are happening in the field.

OSA’s work is timely and unique precisely for this reason. Our research, education, and advocacy programs emphasize farmers’ role as seed stewards. Most farmers are no longer able to save, improve, or produce seed on their farms. This is why we train farmers in seed production and on-farm crop improvement skills, and invite their farms to participate in organic plant breeding projects to meet regional seed needs.

The results include healthier food, farms, and families, and decentralized seed systems that honor diversity and farmer-owned seed.

We know you already made your seed purchases this year. Today we are asking you to invest in seed in a whole new way through a tax-deductible contribution to OSA, at any level you can afford.

Make a donation of $50 or more and receive an organic OSA t-shirt or hat as a thank you gift. Please visit our website for more details.

Through funding from Gaia Fund and Western SARE, I am on the first OSA college seed production speaking tour, giving presentations on basic seed production techniques and on opportunities and challenges in developing organic seed systems. I am talking with classes at Mendocino College in Ukiah, Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, Cabrillo College in Aptos, Cal Poly – San Lois Obispo, and the Agricultural Land-Based Training Program (ALBA) with Hartnell College in Salinas.

So far, the response has been enthusiastic. Having learned more about seed production, it seems the vast majority of the students are now considering producing seed either commercially or for their own use.

This may be the first OSA college speaking tour, but it certainly won’t be the last. The next tour in California is being schedule for this fall. If you know of a class in California that might be interested in having OSA present on seed production, contact Jared Zystro at jared[at]seedalliance.org.

Submit your public comment by the end of the day today (April 27, 2012)

How do I submit a comment?

Click here and hit “submit a comment.”

Talking points?

The petition from Dow AgroScience before USDA (docket No. APHIS-2010-0103) is the first of next generation genetically engineered (GE) crops designed to survive application of even more toxic herbicides. In the case of this petition, the GE trait confers tolerance to 2,4-D, an antiquated herbicide linked to cancer, reproductive toxicity, and endocrine disruption. Herbicide-tolerant crops have proven to be a short-lived technology that compounds weed problems and increases herbicide use. Yet the biotechnology industry’s answer is more of the same. Adding another GE corn trait to the marketplace also exacerbates ongoing challenges to protect the genetic integrity of organic and other non-GMO corn seed, adding more costs and risks for organic farmers, companies, and their customers.

Tell USDA that its job is to look out for the best interest and health of farmers, farm workers, and their families and communities, not the bottom line of chemical companies.

If you live in one of the states represented by members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, call your senator TODAY and ask him/her to support Senator Gillibrand’s Senate Farm Bill amendment that provides farmers locally adapted seeds. (If you live in New York, call Senator Gillibrand to thank her!)

Farmer access to locally adapted seeds is paramount to fostering the competitiveness of agriculture in all regions of the country. Farmers need access to seeds that are bred specifically for their regions and cropping systems, allowing them to grow crops well suited to their local soil, climate, and pest conditions. But agricultural research trends have shifted toward the national production of seeds for a few major crops, greatly limiting farmers’ seed choice and narrowing the diversity of our agricultural system.

To address this problem, the 2008 Farm Bill required USDA to make conventional plant and animal breeding a priority for funding within the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI). But in the AFRI grant-making process, USDA has imposed hurdles that have prevented the agency from meeting this Congressional mandate.

The Gillibrand amendment would reinforce and build on the mandate from the 2008 Farm Bill by requiring that 5% of annual funding for the AFRI program be used for making sure that farmers have access to locally adapted seeds and breeds by focusing on public cultivar and breed development, and removing the hurdles that have hindered USDA’s progress toward this goal.

CBO has given the Gillibrand amendment a zero score.

U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee
To Call Any Senator:  (202) 224-3121

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chair
202-824-4822

Pat Roberts (R-KS), Ranking Member
202-224-4774

John Boozman (R-AR)
202-224-4843

Michael Bennet (D-CO)
202-224-5852

Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
202-224-3521

Tom Harkin (D-IA)
202-224-3254

Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
202-224-3744

Richard Lugar (R-IN)
202-224-4814

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
202-224-2043

Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
202-224-3244

Thad Cochran (R-MS)
202-224-5054

Max Baucus (D-MT)
202-224-2651

Kent Conrad (D-ND)
202-224-2043

John Hoeven (R-ND)
202-224-2551

Ben Nelson (D-NE)
202-224-6551

Mike Johanns (R-NE)
202-224-5323

Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
202-224-4451

Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
202-224-2315

Robert Casey (D-PA)
202-224-6324

John Thune (R-SD)
202-224-2321

Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
202-224-4242

There is a growing realization that if organic farming is to succeed long-term it will be necessary to breed healthy, productive, nutritious crops and breeds of animals that are suited to the environments found on organic farms. Such crops and animals also need to be capable of being productive under the stresses imposed by global climatic change.

Organic farming is a holistic approach that includes concepts of balance, productivity, quality, and integrity. Appropriate breeding objectives for an “organic” agriculture might include: 1) breeding crops that are uniquely adapted to organic, low-input conditions; 2) selecting them for enhanced health, vegetative vigor, taste, and nutritional value combined with productivity; and 3) practicing and teaching a qualitative-quantitative approach to breeding and management that includes organic values and involves and encourages others to practice this approach. The end result should be that unique seeds, that combine productivity and nutritional quality and are adapted to organic farming, become available for farmers and gardeners, and thereby enhance nutrition and the environment.

Creating a paradigm shift in approach

When it comes to results, attitude is, if not everything, a lot. The crops and animals that are being bred today, and the way we farm, are a reflection of our values and ideas just as much as the cultivars, races, and ways of farming in the past were a reflection of the values of other cultures. We have a lot to learn from those older cultures. Modern, one-sided emphases in breeding and production inputs have increased yields but led to progressive decreases in nutritional value of our crops and quality of our soils. The consequences of our breeding approach include greater problems with toxicity of gluten in wheat and fungal (Fusarium) toxins in corn.^[1][2] In animal breeds we have over-bred animals for productivity with greater loss of instinct and greater health problems. Due to our breeding and production approaches, our cultivars have become dependent on fertilizers and pesticides, and our breeds have become dependent on greater use of anthelmithics and antibiotics, among other things.

Holistic approach vs. mechanistic

Concepts of balance and organism integrity are missing in modern breeding programs. The work of developing crops, breeds, and soils has been distorted by a prevalent, mechanistic-reductionist perspective. In breeding, this perspective ignores the existence of species as integrated wholes with a specific identity and integrity. According to the reductionist perspective on breeding crops and animals, whole organism performance is interesting and relevant only inasmuch as it is in line with expected outcomes based on the composition of the genes. This genetic agenda is actually outmoded as new understandings of epigenetic regulation indicate that higher level functions of the organism are “playing on the instrument” of the genes to achieve an integrated whole and that the genes are not necessarily “playing the plant.” Farmers and gardeners are constantly reminded by the crops and animals they work with that these organisms are entities with specific identities and needs that behave according to their own characteristic patterns. However, the presence of a higher level of organization or integration, no matter how clearly it may appear to practitioners or developmental biologists, is either rejected or has not yet been grasped by scientists, breeders, or seed companies who are rooted in the molecular-mechanistic perspective. But irrespective of our attitudes, for a cultivar to be exciting to producers it has to produce an exceptionally “fit” body that achieves a high degree of integration of functions and responses. The best way to measure this is by field performance.

In the past century crops and breeds were mostly bred in a qualitative-quantitative way.  This approach exercised human judgment combined with measured performance of the organism as a whole. The qualitative-quantitative style of breeding could lead defacto over time to a systematic training of the human capacity to work with the crop or animal species as whole organisms, to learn from them by learning patterns of form, response or behavior, and to judge them correctly as whole organisms in conjunction with quantitative performance data.

In recent decades this approach has been progressively replaced by a purely quantitative-molecular perspective. It is now commonly believed that breeding should be laboratory-driven rather that field-driven, even though the bulk of proof still shows that field-driven breeding is still producing the large improvements associated with increasing grain yield in corn. Undoubtedly, recent development in genetic markers and gene sequencing are remarkable, scientifically interesting, and in some cases useful. They have a role to play in breeding, including for organic farming. However, the glamour of these new tools has apparently put us in danger of adopting an exclusively molecular perspective, reducing funding for breeding fit and competitive new crops and animals. Furthermore, the element of skilled human judgment has been de-emphasized at large breeding companies as programs become highly mechanized and increasingly remove the breeder from the nursery.

A vision for organic breeding

My vision for organic breeding involves human values, not just profits. Inherent in the organic approach is the belief in responsible stewardship. It is important for humanity to take better care of the organisms upon which we depend for our sustenance. These cultivars and breeds are our companions on Earth. We need a respectful, long-term strategy for their evolution on the earth. Such a perspective should develop effective qualitative-quantitative assessment of balance in order to maintain whole organism integrity while fully developing the inherent gifts of yield and quality in each species. This new approach implies a new attitude and learning process by human beings. It entails becoming more familiar with individual species, and taking them and their evolution on in a responsible way. It also entails sufficient and efficient observation work that allows breeders to develop their capacity for skilled judgment and selection of plants.

Respectful language

Organic breeders might also consider whether an organic approach should also entail changes in attitude and language. What do we mean when we refer to our cultivars as germplasm or plant materials? These words have become engrained by our schooling, but are they not reductionist concepts that color how we even conceive our work? Speaking of a seed stock as being “germplasm” conveys to me painful images of a nucleus quivering in a sea of protoplasm. Isn’t this diving down into the cellular level when we refer to a whole organism? Also the language of “plant material” degrades a living creature down to form of dead matter. We are unfairly reducing (degrading) these organisms. If being observant and capable of “internalizing” and learning from the target organism is an issue, then breeder attitude matters.

Walter Goldstein grew up and received his education in Washington state but now lives in Wisconsin. He has bred corn under organic conditions since 1989. He was Research Director of Michael Fields Agricultural Institute for 25 years before starting his own research and education organization called the Mandaamin Institute. Mandaamin is the Algonquian word for corn/the spirit of corn. It means “wonder seed.” The institute works to breed nutritionally valuable crops and promote health farming practices. Learn more about the institute here.

[i] There is increasing evidence that the runaway epidemic in wheat intolerance and celiac disease in the human population is associated with hard gluten in wheat. Decades of selection have resulted in new, superior wheat varieties with high contents of elastic, hard gluten. This gluten is associated with an enhanced ability of the dough to hold gas bubbles and to rise. The more of this elastic substance in wheat, the larger the loaf. Light, fluffy bread is of commercial value. Modern breeding of wheat for bread increased the gluten components (toxic peptide epitopes) that induce celiac disease. This gluten irritates the gut and engenders autoimmune responses that can have long-lasting negative consequences on the lives of ordinary people. (van den Broeck, H.C. de Jong, E. M. J. Salentijn, L. Dekking, D. Bosch, R. J. Hamer, L. J. W. J. Gilissen, I. M. van der Meer, M. J. M. Smulders. 2010. Presence of celiac disease epitopes in modern and old hexaploid wheat varieties: wheat breeding may have contributed to increased prevalence of celiac disease. Theor Appl Genet (2010) 121:1527–1539)

[ii] Modern cultivars in the US have been bred to have high levels of naturally toxic compounds called benzoxazinoids to biologically control first generation European Corn Borers and Corn Root Worm. Fungal Fusarium species thrive as endophytes in the presence of benzoxazinoids, as they can tolerate and break them down. The presence of these compounds results in profound reductions in diversity of endophytic communities and up to 35 times higher levels of Fusarium in tops and roots. (Saunders, M. and L.M. Kohn 2009. Evidence for alteration of fungal endophyte community assembly by host defense compounds New Phytologist (2009) 182: 229–238)

CONTACT: Jared Zystro, Research & Education Specialist, (608) 957-4829, jared@seedalliance.org

Southeast Farmers Say More Organic Seed Research and Education Needed

Organic Seed Alliance Publishes Results of Regional Survey

Port Townsend, WA – Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) has released findings from an organic seed survey conducted in the Southeast region of the U.S. Findings point to enormous interest among farmers and other agricultural professionals in strengthening seed systems in the Southeast to address the needs of the organic community. The short report can be downloaded here (opens PDF). This project is made possible by funding from the Seed Matters initiative.

Working with regional partners, OSA developed an online survey to assess organic seed systems in the Southeast and identify collaborative opportunities to expand and improve these systems. The survey, which closed last month, collected responses from more than 2,200 individuals, including nearly 500 farmers. The following findings are drawn from these farmer responses:

Southeast farmers rely on saving seed. Nearly half of respondents report saving seed for on-farm use.

Southeast farmers seek seed advice from neighbors. More than 75% of farmers report turning to other farmers for seed-related questions.

Southeast farmers see challenges for the organic seed sector. Half of respondents view the lack of organic seed, as well as the lack of variety information, as urgent or very important. Seventy-five percent of respondents see contamination by genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as an urgent or very important challenge to organic seed in the Southeast.

Southeast farmers want to strengthen the organic seed system in their region. The majority of respondents believe that public education on organic seed is urgent or very important (80%) and view research on which varieties perform best for organic farms in the Southeast as urgent or very important (80%). Most respondents also believe that teaching farmers to save seed is urgent or very important (70%). Lastly, the majority of respondents believe it is urgent or very important to safeguard organic seed systems in the Southeast from GMOs (90%).

“Strengthening organic seed systems at the regional level demands a deep understanding of the opportunities within the community involved, and a comprehensive approach to addressing their needs,” says Jared Zystro of Organic Seed Alliance. “We know through past experience that such an approach involves building public-private partnerships, fostering participatory plant breeding projects, and bolstering seed skills at the farm level.”

Based on the overwhelming response to the survey and the amount of interest in organic seed systems in the Southeast, a project committee made up of farm organizations, universities, and farmers is planning upcoming work in this region. Contact Jared Zystro at jared@seedalliance.org if you live in the Southeast and want to get involved.

Organic Seed Alliance supports the ethical development and stewardship of the genetic resources of agricultural seed. Learn more at www.seedalliance.org.

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And be on the lookout this summer for another organic seed resource. OSA’s Dr. John Navazio’s new book, The Organic Seed Grower: A Farmer’s Guide to Vegetable Production, hits shelves in August 2012, and serves as a comprehensive manual for serious vegetable growers interested in growing high-quality seeds using organic farming practices. The book is written for both serious home seed savers and diversified small-scale farmers who want to learn the necessary steps involved in successfully producing a commercial seed crop organically. Read more here.

Follow this link for conference recordings.

Two years ago, USDA and DOJ hosted workshops across the US on competition issues in agriculture and antitrust enforcement. Thousands of farmers and ranchers testified in person or submitted written comments about the harm arising from market concentration and anticompetitive conduct.

On the issue of seed, the letter calls on the committees to: Address practices in the seed industry that reduce competition and raise prices for farmers, including restrictive utility patents, cross-licensing agreements, limited access to germplasm and generic seeds, and the use of patents to undermine competition and stifle scientific innovation in the seed industry.

OSA detailed the consequences of seed industry concentration in our comments to USDA and DOJ here.

Reprinted from Just Label It 3/27/12 (original post):

Congratulations, together, we have made history. We now stand more than one million strong in asking the FDA to label genetically engineered (GE) foods. Today, March 27 is the date that the FDA is required to respond to the petition and it took us less than 180 days to accumulate a record breaking number of public comments—a testament to the power of our collective voices to demand our right to know what’s in our food. This campaign’s strength is due to the over 500 diverse partner organizations who helped galvanize the American people to this moment.

We know that one million is just a start. Today, a new national survey commissioned by Just Label It reveals that more than nine out of 10 of Americans across the political spectrum supports labeling food that has been genetically engineered. The new infographic below is a compelling visual that shares the results of the survey data.