Telephone Surveys: Agro Protection International is often called upon to conduct telephone surveys of growers of particular clients or sometimes of growers in select geographical areas. Focused again on the protection of intellectual property, these calls are generally used to provide information to growers about specific products or issues related to intellectual property. Educating people about the benefits of intellectual property in agriculture is a very important aspect of the service that we provide to our clients.

Farm Visits: In order to maintain high levels of compliance related to the appropriate purchase and use of I.P. protected brands of seed, Agro Protection International has, since 1996, developed and utilized a comprehensive system of reconciliations that are based upon farm visits. Our staff physically attends to the Growers farm in order to carry out a detailed analysis that determines appropriate usage of the product in question. The vast majority of these visits result in confirmation of appropriate usage, though sometimes problems are identified and correcting action becomes necessary. Detailed reports are always provided to our clients, enabling them to have in-depth understanding of the compliance rates broken down by geographical area. In those cases where the issue becomes a legal concern, our staff will have compiled a comprehensive and detailed evidentiary package for our clients enabling them to proceed forward with confidence.

Awareness Campaigns: One of the primary purposes that we have at Agro Protection International is to deter people from violating any of the I.P. agreements with which they are bound. One of the most important ways in which to do this is to create awareness in the marketplace:

• awareness of the rules and laws governing product use;

• awareness of the importance of continuing research and development; and

• awareness that these products are being actively protected.

We create awareness with all of our services, but sometimes very specific and targeted awareness campaigns can be utilized as a cost-efficient manner in which to proactively avoid problems in troublesome areas.

Corn Refuge Management: With the advent of more and more technology in farmers’ fields, government regulation and oversight is also important in order to maintain and protect these technologies and their viability. In the corn industry, this has meant the development of guidelines governing the use of Bt technology, primarily the need for an “insect refuge” in order to avoid the development of Bt resistance in corn pests. Agro Protection International has assisted agricultural companies in working with growers to ensure that they are planting a proper refuge in order to comply with federal government regulations. Farm visits, receipt reconciliations and grower awareness are all parts of the service that we can provide to companies concerned about “protecting the refuge”.