The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that a Jefferson, Oregon, seed company has paid USDA $2,450 to settle alleged violations of the Federal Seed Act. 

The company, ProSeeds Marketing, 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 annual ryegrass, perennial ryegrass, and lawn mixture seed alleged to be in violation of the Federal Seed Act; there were three shipments to Missouri that were reshipped to Arkansas, and one shipment to Ohio. 

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

• false labeling as to pure seed, other crop seed, and weed seed;

• false labeling as to germination;

• failure to test for germination prior to interstate shipment; 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 Arkansas and Ohio 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.