Washington, DC, USA
March 1, 2012
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that Allied Seed LLC, Nampa, Idaho, has paid $2,600 to settle alleged violations of the Federal Seed Act.
This settlement resolves three cases that involved one shipment of bermudagrass seed to Georgia, one shipment of a ‘Wildlife Mixture’ to Pennsylvania, and one shipment of perennial ryegrass seed to Virginia. The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were as follows:
-false labeling as to weed seed percentage;
-false labeling as to germination percentage, and
-false labeling as to variety name.
The company settled the cases in agreement with AMS officials. The company neither admitted nor denied the charges brought against them.
AMS administers the Federal Seed Act with the assistance of state seed officials. The investigations were completed through the joint efforts of AMS and seed regulatory officials in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The Federal Seed Act is a truth-in-labeling law designed to protect farmers and consumers who buy seed.