WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced that Green Thumb Commodities Inc., a seed company operating out of Oldham, S.D., has paid $2,275 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 four cases, which involved two shipments of rye seeds, one shipment of sunflower seeds, and one shipment of buckwheat seeds to Georgia, Missouri, and Texas. The alleged violations, while not the same for all shipments, were:
- false labeling of inert matter and germination percentages, kind name, and variety name; -failure to label the presence of noxious-weed seeds; and-failure to keep or supply complete records of the seed.
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 Georgia, Missouri, and Texas. The Federal Seed Act is a truth-in-labeling law designed to protect farmers and consumers who buy seed.
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