Washington, DC, USA
August 17, 2009

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced that Allied Seed, LLC, a seed company operating out of Nampa, Idaho, has paid $3,575 to settle alleged violations of the Federal Seed Act. The company settled the case in agreement with AMS officials. The company neither admitted nor denied the charges brought against them.

This settlement resolves a case which involved two shipments of red clover seed to Missouri, and one shipment of a pasture seed mixture to Kentucky. The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were as follows:

• false labeling as to pure seed, inert matter, and weed seed;
• false labeling as to the presence of noxious-weed seed; and
• false labeling as to the date of germination test.

AMS administers the Federal Seed Act with the assistance of state seed officials. The investigation was completed through the joint efforts of AMS and seed regulatory officials in Missouri and Kentucky. The Federal Seed Act is a truth-in-labeling law designed to protect farmers and consumers who buy seed.

Website: http://www.ams.usda.gov

Published: August 17, 2009