The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that an Ashburn, Georgia, seed company has paid USDA $1,250 to settle alleged violations of the Federal Seed Act. 

The company, Johnston Seed Company, Inc., settled the case in agreement with officials from USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service.  The company neither admitted nor denied the charges.

The case resolved by the settlement involved four shipments consisting of Pensacola bahiagrass seed and annual ryegrass seed alleged to be in violation of the Federal Seed Act; there was one shipment to Alabama and three shipments to Florida. 

The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were:

• false labeling as to pure seed and inert matter;

• false labeling as to the presence of noxious-weed seed;

• false labeling as to date of test;

• failure to keep and or supply a complete record of the seed.

AMS administers the act with the help of state seed officials.  Seed regulatory officials in Alabama and Florida cooperated with AMS in making the investigations.  The Federal Seed Act is a truth-in-labeling law designed to protect farmers and consumers who buy seed.