North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["ROBERT W JUDY A" <hartmansfruit@msn.com>]

Michael,
I am not concerned about who is getting the money for the whole thing.  I am 
more concerned that the whole process ties everything up so that the 
homeowner will never see any of the trees in his or her own yard.
Bob

-----Original Message----- 
From: Michael Dossett via nafex
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2014 9:32 AM
To: nafex mailing list at ibiblio
Subject: Re: [nafex] complaints about taxpayer funded "club" varieties

I think it is important to understand here that "club" varieties have little 
to do with generating revenues for breeding programs - a point which I think 
has been missed.  If the goal was solely to generate royalty revenue, 
patenting a variety and then making it widely available through licensed 
propagators will absolutely generate a larger revenue stream, or what some 
have done which is to also license a production royalty on top of the per 
plant royalty.

"Club" varieties are more about generating revenue for growers by limiting 
supply.  This works best when consumers are able to identify particular 
varieties in the marketplace which is why you rarely see club varieties in 
anything but apples.  By limiting the supply to a set number of 
producers/acres, you can manage the supply and demand so that retailers make 
more and so that growers can ask a higher price.  There is very little money 
to be made by apple growers growing a gala or a red delicious if the retail 
price is $1/lb or less, but if the supply is limited and demand is present 
then the growers can get a better price because the price can be passed down 
to consumers who will still pay it.  Usually growers pay a fee to be in the 
club or their is a competitive bidding process to delineate who is in or 
out.  As with any system, there are pros and cons, but theoretically, the 
club system can be good for local family farms who don't necessarily
have the economy of scale to be operating on razor thin margins of producing 
apples like red delicious, though it still squeezes out many small acreage 
producers.

Michael



Michael Dossett
Mission, British Columbia
www.Mdossettphoto.com
phainopepla@yahoo.com


On Wednesday, August 20, 2014 3:22 AM, Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com> 
wrote:



Funds for breeding research for state universities is, unfortunately,
shrinking as I believe, are the breeding programs themselves.  Money made
from patents can help universities fund more research so they have to do
whatever they can to recoup as much money with any rock star varieties they
happen to produce.  Honeycrisp is the holly grail but many varieties only
become popular after the extinction of the patent (think Goldrush).

Patents run their course and the system (originally devised in England)
actually created the environment to bring about the industrial revolution-
inventors must be rewarded based on the success of their inventions.  The
idea has always been that patents run out and become public property, but
not before the inventor is reasonably compensated.

I don't like the club variety idea much either, but I was at a farmers
markets in CA where a grower was boasting how he grafted all his trees to
patented Zaiger varieties.  He was very proud of how he avoided paying the
royalties.  I said nothing but didn't buy any of his fruit.  However, I
can't say I've never grafted a patented variety for my own personal use.
Can't do that with a club variety- boo hoo.
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