The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that a Greene, New York, seed company has paid USDA $975 to settle an alleged violation of the Federal Seed Act.

The company, Page Seed Company, 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 three shipments of lettuce seed alleged to be in violation of the Federal Seed Act; there was one shipment to New Mexico and two shipments to Texas.

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

• false labeling of germination;
• failure to indicate the seed lot as a mixture; and
• 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 New Mexico and Texas 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.