Cereal Hay Variety Commercialisation (CHVC)

IP Australia has granted Plant Breeders Rights (PBR) for all of AEXCO oat hay varieties.

PBR was introduced to stimulate investment in plant breeding by conferring ownership rights to varieties and thereby the potential to market those rights as part of a commercialization process. The PBR Amendment Act of 2002 gives an owner of PBR the right to sell, produce, reproduce, import, export, stock and condition the seed of a variety protected by PBR (or license another person or organization to undertake these activities).

The rights are similar to patents or copyright (they record the ownership of the genetic material) and are administered under the Act. PBR Protection can last up to 20 years for broadacre crops.

PBR guarantee ownership of a variety but do not specify how the variety should be commercialized or whether or where royalties should be applied or charged.

Key Points

  • Seed of varieties with PBR protection can only be bought from the owner, commercial partner/licensee or an agent authorized by the owner.
  • Growers cannot sell, trade or give away the variety, for seed unless authorized by the owner, commercial partner/licensee or an agent authorized by the owner.
  • If growers are unsure of any PBR issues or individual variety marketing arrangements they should seek information from AEXCO or its authorized seed distributors.

Royalties

AEXCO has played a prominent role in supporting investment in the breeding and commercialisation of cereal hay varieties for Australia since 2003.  AEXCO is responsible for the collection of the following royalties that apply to all AEXCO cereal hay varieties.

Hay End Point Royalty:

  • AEXCO oat varieties: Forester, Koorabup, Mulgara and Tungoo @ $2.20 / tonne (GST inclusive)
  • Third party oat varieties (Intergrain – https://www.intergrain.com): Bannister, Dunnart, Durack, Williams and Yallara @ $2.20 / tonne (GST inclusive), Wallaby and Kultarr @ $3.30 / tonne (GST inclusive), Kingbale and Archer @ $3.65 / tonne (GST exclusive).
  • Third party wheat varieties (LongReach Plant Breeders – https://www.longreachpb.com.au/products): Bale and Dual $3.50 / tonne (GST exclusive)

Grain End Point Royalty:

  • AEXCO oat varieties: Forester, Koorabup, Mulgara and Tungoo @ $2.20 / tonne (GST inclusive)

Seed Royalty:

Growers buying seed for the production of grain and / or domestic hay of the following oat varieties Forester, Koorabup, Mulgara and Tungoo may also have to pay a seed royalty. The seed royalty will be incorporated into the seed price quoted by an authorized AEXCO seed distributor.