USDA Announces Actions to Increase Competition in Agriculture

On Tuesday, USDA announced it was taking action to promote competition in the agriculture industry. As part of the announcement, USDA released a seed competition framework to help increase transparency in the seed sector. The framework focuses on improving researcher access to seed germplasm through clarifying patent disclosure requirements as well as providing guidance on the uses of protected seed germplasm within the context of patent law. The Department will also encourage the sharing of seed germplasm developed using federal funding. Further, USDA released a report on competition in the meat retail industry and announced it would take the next steps to issue regulations impacting entities in the meatpacking sector. These actions are part of a broader USDA effort to create fair and competitive agricultural markets.