The use of home-saved seed on Irish farms is constantly monitored, according to the Plant Variety Development Office (PVDO).
The office has confirmed that a farmer in the east of the country recently agreed a settlement of unpaid royalties due on his farm-saved seed.
PVDO is the authorised body that administers the collection of royalties on farm saved seed (FSS), sometimes called home saved seed, in Ireland.
Brigid Quigley from the PVDO said:
“We are not in the business of naming and shaming. It is for this reason that we are not going pubic with the details of the farmer involved.”
According to Quigley, the PVDO employs online methods to identify farmers using home-saved seed.
“We also know farmers who, traditionally, save their own seed, and monitor these circumstances accordingly. Farmers using their own seed pay a reduced royalty fee,” she said.
Spring barley
Quigley is very conscious that a lot of new spring barley varieties were imported into Ireland earlier this year, due to the very poor 2023 harvest.
She said: “All imported seed stocks are listed on a register of official EU varieties.
“Farmers saving seed for use in 2025, from imported seed used this year, will still have to pay all relevant royalties at the appropriate time.”
The most recent seed royalties’ case was taken by PVDO under plant variety rights legislation.
Prior to the case being heard in open court, the farmer in question agreed to pay all royalties on cereal seed sown in a number of previous years along with the legal costs incurred.
Penalties under the legislation for evasion of royalties or mis-declaration include payment of monies owed, legal costs and a fine of up to €5,000.
According to Quigley, plant breeders all over Europe depend on income from seed royalties to survive.
Moreover, this income is legally protected under legislation on plant reproductive material, plant variety rights and farm-saved seed regulations.
All this legislation is enforceable by the PVDO, a company limited by guarantee, and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in Ireland.
“Farmers depend on new varieties, which are bred continuously by plant breeders to provide growers with crops that increase yield and can cope more effectively with diseases, pests, drought and other impacts of climate change.
“Farmers should note the sale, purchase or trade in any form of uncertified seed is illegal.
“Certified seed must only be sourced from an official seed merchant, or in the case of farm saved seed, it can only be seed from a farmers own holding, its use must be declared and royalties must be paid on it,” she added.