Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it is removing “Soybeans of Other Colors” as an official grade-determining factor under the U.S. Standards for Soybeans. USDA established the soybean standards under the U.S. Grain Standard Standards Act to help market soybeans and historically included “Soybeans of Other Colors” (SBOC) as a grading factor for determining soybean quality.

These states have announced their participation:

Agricultural Competition Partnership

USDA is responding to input from Indian Country requesting to localize food purchases for tribal feeding programs and reframe purchase specifications to address barriers inhibiting access by tribal and related small or very small food enterprises. USDA is conducting a Ground Bison Purchase Pilot to support smaller, local, and regional deliveries of ground bison to Tribes and State agencies administering the Food Distribution Program for Indian Reservations (FDPIR).

Today, all growers need more transparency in the market to understand which seeds are covered by intellectual property protection that may impact their ability to save, sell, research, and breed with certain seeds.  

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues two types of patents that can be applied to agricultural innovations: