Forcenturies, farmers were responsible for growing crops, plant breeding, and seedcollecting. Every year, they would allow a row or two of crops mature andflower. Seeds were harvested, dried, and saved for the next season

Maybe they weren’t trainedscientists, but they bred crops for higher yields, better pest resistance, andother desired traits.

Thepower held within agriculture has heavily shifted out of farmer’s control intothe hands of a few mega-corporations regulated through patents, user-agreements, trade secrets, and licensing. Bayer, Chemchina, Corteva, and BASF­–currentlyown over 60% of the global proprietary seed sales. They are known as the “Big4” in the seed industry