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AMS No. 035-13
Nadine Wilkins (202) 720-8998
WASHINGTON, March 1, 2013 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced that Beachner Seed Company, St. Paul, Kan., has paid $6,500 to settle alleged violations of the Federal Seed Act.
This settlement resolves six cases that involved three shipments of tall fescue seed from Missouri to Kentucky, two shipments of tall fescue seed from Kansas to Kentucky, and one shipment of tall fescue seed from Missouri to Georgia. The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were as follows:
-false labeling as to variety name, and
-false labeling as to germination percentage.
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 Kentucky and Georgia. The Federal Seed Act is a truth-in-labeling law designed to protect farmers and consumers who buy seed.
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