Public Innovation, Public Mission? Sustainability-oriented Breeding in United States' Agricultural Plant Patents

Are public research institutions contributing to innovation in a way that serves their sustainability missions? This question is considered using the case of agricultural plant breeding in the US, a field of innovation central to agri-environmental sustainability. Using plant patent data from 1980-2024, I test whether the developer of plant patents – public or private inventors – predicts the prevalence of certain plant traits that reflect a range of priorities, from sustainability-orientation to commercial interest. Preliminary results suggest that public breeders do prioritize sustainability-oriented traits more than the private breeders, but this difference precedes the sustainability mission transition of the 21st century. Over the past two decades, public breeders have increasingly prioritized traits related to production increase and plant aesthetics, signaling a move away from the public's sustainability mission.