Across the country, a new kind of library has been popping up.
At these libraries, instead of checking out books, you check out seeds and plant them. After the plants grow and produce seeds, you bring them back and restock the shelves.
Mancos and Cortez each have one.
In other states, libraries have been making a stir when agriculture officials informed them that they violated the law.
Seed exchanges have sprouted up in about 300 locations around the country, most often in libraries, where gardeners can exchange self-pollinating seeds rather than buy standard, hybrid seeds. In spots like Duluth, Minn., the conflict with agriculture departments has surprised gardeners and library officials, who established exchanges to meet a growing interest in locally grown food and preserving certain varieties, never thinking to examine the intricacies of state seed laws.
"It's about the philosophy, the legacy of shared seeds," Duluth Library Manager Carla Powers said. Its seed exchange is operated by library employees and volunteers. "It's about sharing with our friends and neighbors in the community."
Agriculture officials say they felt obligated to enforce laws, which are largely uniform across the country.
Intended to protect farmers, the laws ensure that seeds are viable, will grow the intended plant and aren't mixed with unwanted seeds for weeds or plants. Even though most of the laws refer to "sales" of seeds, that term is defined to include exchanges - where no money changes hands.
"Everybody thinks we're the big, evil, bad government, but it's much more complicated than people are aware," said Geir Friisoe, director of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Plant Protection Division.
The issue arose last summer in Pennsylvania when a state inspector became aware of a seed exchange at a public library in Mechanicsburg.
State Agriculture Department Deputy Secretary Jay Howes said his office "sent them a nice letter" that outlined the problem, noting that seed distributed by the library needed to be tested and the library would have to be licensed. State officials and the library quickly resolved the situation by agreeing to hold one-day seed swaps, Howes said.
Laura Pottorff, program manager with the plant industry division for the Colorado Department of Agriculture, said the Colorado Department of Agriculture would do no such thing.
"We interpret our seed act and the intent of the seed act differently," Pottorff said. "The purpose of our laws is to regulate business transaction with seed."
At local seed libraries, no money is exchanging hands.
"These are small amounts of seed, and no money is changing hands," she said. "In our laws, we regulate commercial transactions."
However, federal law would kick in if someone were giving away or selling a plant variety that was under patent or protected.
"So it is important to do your research," she said.
Let's say someone was growing a patented variety of corn. If they were giving that away, that would be a violation of federal law.
"As long as the seed libraries are dealing with heirloom varieties, there will be no problems what soever," Pottorff said.
Seed laws are to protect the consumer. The purchaser is expecting the seed they purchase will germinate, Pottorff said.
Pottorff also samples seed from seed companies to be sure there is no weed seed in the product.
"When state law was written, probably 10 years ago, there was no such thing as a seed library, so the law didn't anticipate this," Howes said.
Advocates of seed-sharing programs said they don't necessarily blame agriculture departments, but some express frustration that laws focus on the needs of modern hybrid seed producers while limiting age-old, person-to-person seed exchanges.
It's hard to justify restricting the small-scale exchanges, according to John Torgrimson, the executive director of the Seed Savers Exchange, which maintains a seed bank of more than 20,000 varieties. His group, based in Decorah, Iowa, meets the standards of all U.S. seed laws.
"There's almost no danger," he said. "This is not a risk to agriculture in any state. This is not a risk to our food supply."
Friisoe said his office will propose changing Minnesota law to allow occasional exchanges and those operated by charitable groups.
The Associated Press contributed to the story
