Seed WASHINGTON, D.C. - To the casual observer, Wilbur An derson’s field of cabbage and peas in Washington state is fairly or dinary. Dan Canthffe's Florida plantings of cucumber, squash and water melon or Darrell Morey’s wheat and rye fields in Georgia also appear ordinary. JpHN DEERE 1 Save On rrjj Save Before CJ| Save On 1980-81 Prices! Prices Increase! Investment Credit! JOHN DEERE 337 WIRE TIE BALER With Ejector Safe Price *10,245 Less John Deere Bucks 250 Your Price *9,995 Waiver of Finance Available To 5/1/82 JOHN DEERE JOHN DEERE 2600 johm DEERE 1 no 158 LOADER AUTOMATIC RESET PLOW Complete With 72” Bucket Variable 16” to 20” * 1 A „ . SALE $0 5 Bottom eiie , Rental Unit price ii/“® sale enn 500 PRICE 7,500 PRICE F. 0.8. Shop r*-. A JOHN DEERE 1065 A Sa . K 7 Ton-Adjustable Hitch Pole >iv [■£"*»*] ls’ x 8 LP Wheel Knocked Down - FOB Shop M hIEM"ITiTg : i BUSH HOG \ m i 9 tFiM ■ ■ V-VII ■li nlLil BUSH HOG c oll uA fi 1437 DISK 146 ?1? K 245 DISK Model 1550 HARROW HARROW SALE 13 ' 9 ,. V&PSS, ~ s ' 9 °° S, -S.MJ SS& ™ ■*■«» GEHL- gEHL GEHL 7200 GEHL 135 GEHL DC 1080 FLAIL CHOPPER GRINDER MIXER DISC MOWER 6Foot All Hydraulic 6Ft.-Demo price *3,850 ppJle *7,850 price *8,500 O CHAPMAN EQUIPMENT CENTER, Corner of Ruppsville Road & Chapman Road, Wescosville, Pa. 215-398*2553 ' Open Monday to Friday 8 to 5; Saturday 8 to Noon ■■AreaCodes 215 & 717 Call Toll Free... 800-3223289H| [Area Codes 201, 301, 302 & 609 Call Toll Free...Boo-523-9323| growouis assure correct labeling But they aren’t ordinary. All three plantings are part of a network of open-air laboratories maintained by the U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture and cooperating states, to help ensure that seed is labeled and sold by its correct variety name. Cantliffe, Anderson and Morey are all corn specialists who spend SAVE THREE TIMES! JOHN DEERE EQUIPMENT JOHN DEERE 327 TWINE TIE BALER With Ejector Sale Price Less John Deere Bucks 250 Your Price *8*245 Waiver of Finance Available To 3/1/82 part of their tune working with USDA to check the accuracy of seed labeling as to variety. “Correct variety labeling of seed is critical m today's market,” says Don Ator, chief of the Seed Regulatory Branch of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. “‘Tp check the accuracy of seed labeling we grow the seed JOHN DEERE 115 ll'S" DISK HARROW 20”xl80" Disk Sale Price *3670 Less John Deere Bucks 75 Your Price *3* 595 Waiver of Finance Available To 3/1/82 'eeing is believing Waiver of Finance Available To 5/1/82 seeing is believing.” As recently as 30 years ago, people, had few improved varieties to choose from. Today there are thousands of varieties ot field crops, vegetable crops and turf grasses. Each variety is developed for specific growing conditions or for specific end product uses. Soil, weather, geography, disease- (agway) JOHN DEERE 225 13'5 OFFSET DISK HARROW Demo - 24"xV«” Disk SALE PRICE *5,450 INC.<SB> Uncaster Farming, Saturday, November 14,1981-839 resistance, and intended use all are factors in deciding which varieties to plant. Choice of variety can make the difference between crop success or failure. "If seed is incorrectly labeled fanners or home gardeners won’t get the crop they planned,” Ator said. Variety testing is one part of a program to enforce the Federal Seed Act, a truth-m-labeling law intended to protect farmers and home gardeners who buy seed USDA has seed test sites in 11 states. State seed regulatory officials draw seed samples for ge r mmation and purity testing ana send them to USDA, Ator said. The samples are taken at farm supply stores, hardware stores, super markets, warehouses—anywhere seed is sold. “The sample seeds are carefully nurtured according to recom mended practices for the crop being tested,” Ator said "Each seed lot under scrutiny is com pared with a control sample to determine if it is the variety claimed. If not, distinguished characteristics of the plants are recorded and photographed to document the fact that the plants are not the variety named on the seed label. "We find about five percent of the samples tested this way are mislabeled,” Ator said. “Test results on offtypes are referred to USOA field agents and state seed control officials who pursue each case by checking records of companies mvolved. ’ ’ The seed company then may be cited with a violation of the Federal Seed Act or of state seed laws. “Sometimes a warning is suf • ficient,” Ator said, “we could also take stronger measures such as penalty action with a fine. “There are many instances where variety mislabeling could result in financial losses,” Ator said. “For example, a farmer growing barley for brewing could be damaged if the wrong variety is planted and the crop doesn’t meet the standards required by the brewer.” “Home gardeners also can be hurt by mislabeling,” Ator said. “It’s frustrating to plan for one crop and get another. Paying a premium price for a special variety is a waste of money if the seed purchased is not true to the information on the label. “Farmers and gardeners already have enough risks to deal with weather, disease, markets.- They shouldn’t have to risk planting the wrong variety of seed,” he said. Proper seed labeling can’t be taken for granted, Ator said. “Mislabeling can happen through human error, such as a simple switching of tags from one seed lot to another, or attaching the wrong tag to seed,” he said. “Seed can be contaumnated in the harvesting or cleaning process if equipment isn’t completely clear of one variety of seed before the next one is run.” Seed varieties also can be contaminated or changed by foreign pollen, by volunteer plants, or by genetic shifts due to en vironmental factors. And, Ator said, seed varieties may be deliberately mislabeled as a marketing tool. For example, a variety of seed could be sold by one seed dealer to another. The second dealer might rename the variety to enhance sales. "This not only is illegal,” Ator said, "it further confuses what is already a complex marketing business. The consumer doesn’t have a choice as to variety when these practices prevail.”
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