Failures in the Australian pasture seed market after 30 years of Plant Breeder’s Rights

Plant Breeder’s Rights (PBR) were introduced in Australia (1987–1994) to protect intellectual property (IP) and foster private investment in new plant cultivars. Their introduction coincided with an incremental withdrawal of the public sector from cultivar development, and a downsizing of the wool industry that had previously funded pasture research. This Viewpoint assesses the status of pasture cultivar development three decades later, contrasting PBR with the old Register of Australian Herbage Plant Cultivars (RAHPC). A desktop analysis of cultivars registered under PBR or RAHPC is compared to cultivars recently marketed by six major seed companies, followed by detailed case studies of three cultivars, to explore modern trends. As of April 2024, 807 cultivars were registered in Australia from 127 pasture species, most of which (>100) could be considered niche species. There was poor support for PBR by the companies sampled, with only 31% of marketed cultivars having PBR protection, 48% having never been registered and signs of low availability of many species. There was limited evidence of genetic gain in pasture cultivars post-2010, attributable to the lack of commercial return in minor species, little requirement for ‘characters of merit’ and poor cultivar descriptions that obscure independent assessment. It is our view that further genetic gain in most Australian pasture species seems unrealistic without public investment, owing to the wide diversity of species requiring development and the lack of end-point royalties in pasture cultivars. Preserving previous gains by maintaining availability of older cultivars of merit may be a more realistic objective.