ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,457,950, issued on Nov. 4.
"Cereal crop seed production" was invented by Todd Krone (Des Moines, Iowa), Jason Cope (Ankeny, Iowa), George Singletary (Ankeny, Iowa) and Mark E. Westgate (Ames, Iowa).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "This invention describes a new method to generate cereal crop seed. The process involves the delivery of pollen of the male parent at will, as available either in a preserved pollen bank, or using real-time collection from male plants as they become available. Desired pollen is delivered to fertile females during the period when viable pollen from the females and locally proximal unrelated plants is not being relea...