With support from the Fund for Rural America, and administered by Oregon Tilth, the FCGP explores the feasibility of a cooperative marketing structure that rewards producers for maintaining our nation's most vital resource base - the seed.
Seeds are the source of agricultural enterprise.
The hybrid corn, wheat, and rice improvements ushered in a new era of agriculture throughout the world. Unfortunately, farmers have become increasingly removed from the genetic resources upon which they depend. Consolidation of the seed industry, the rush to patent varieties, and recent technological developments all result in a narrowing of the genetic base on which agriculture stands. The Farmer Cooperative Genome Project is a three year project to assemble a farmer owned seed cooperative. Traditional garden varieties of seed are in decline.