Federal And State Standards For Seed And Feed - AgEBB
Federal And State Standards For Seed And Feed
By Rebecca Mezines
Undergraduate Student In Agricultural Economics 333, W96
And
By Deanne Hackman
Research Associate and Adjunct Instructor
Social Science Unit, College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
University of Missouri - Columbia
March 26, 1996
CAUTION: Do not rely upon this information for legal advice.
See an attorney for legal counseling tailored to your
specific situation and needs.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we did
not have standards for grain? In neighboring countries
people envy the uniform quality of seed and feed that
America produces. With these influential standards we do
not have weeds in our corn meal or unhealthy feed pellets
for our livestock today in the United States of America. As
a general rule, farmers and ranchers all have to abide by
certain standards and grades for the products they produce.
These standards consist of labeling variety, origin, weight,
weed content and date of pesticide inoculation. Standards
also promote federal inspection which looks for quality
produced, false labeling and improper handling of pesticides
or fertilizers. Agricultural producers rely on this system
to market their products and protect themselves when they
purchase supplies. In buying and purchasing transactions
federal and state regulatory agencies indirectly influence
the business of agriculture producers. Throughout the
process of production of seed and feed, producers must
follow these state and federal regulations to create a safe
and uniform product for consumers.
The seed and feed industry has operated under several
different regulations through out history. The following is
a list of influential regulations on the grain standards
issue:
- U.S Grain Act of 1937 -This act provided mandatory
national grain standards for farmers to follow. These
standards determined size, type, weed content, and the
weight of grain which was to be involved in business
transactions (McGraw Hill 355).
- The Federal Seed Act- The federal seed act applies to
seed which moves in interstate commerce and serves as a
standard growth and size model for growers to follow. The
previous revision was in 1983 and it's purpose was to
keep high standards for growers to follow throughout the
country (7 USCA 1551).
- The Association of Agriculture Products Produced Act-
This act was created in 1977 as an administrative policy
which controlled grain corporations from monopolizing
markets and which intern effects the quality and price of
the products for American consumers (7 USCA 291).
- Agriculture Producer Market Act This act which has been
revised last in 1969 and directly influences how farmers
grow their crops today. It forces handlers of seed and
feed should follow certain size, and fertilizing
standards. Also because of this act growers of seed
should expect to be inspected by a federal employee so as
to keep the quality of grain produced in America above
average (7 USCA 2301).
There are many other administration policies which
promote standards of kind, class, quality and condition of
seed and feed. Many of these Acts are being revised every
year to fit the needs of consumers and growers. Generally,
state seed laws take the approach as being similar to the
federal regulations. These policies have built upon each
other so as to have more productive and efficient business
transactions. It is easy to see how important these grading
standards for seed and feed are if you look at our
neighboring countries. In some of these less developed
countries when purchases of feed occur the buyer has no
guarantee on receiving good quality feed because of the
lack of strict grading regulations.
In the following case the use of fruit grading
standards is discussed, since the principal is the same for
grain the case shows also how important grading standards
are to the U.S government. In the Wileman Brothers vs. ESPY
case the growers of peaches and nectarines stated that the
federal standards for peach size and maturity was unfair and
against their first amendment rights (58 F.3d 1367). The
U.S Court of Appeals decided in this case that the maturity
and size standards were fair and that they protect the
consumers from lesser quality products. The court made
reference to the Administration Procedure Act and
Agriculture Marketing Agreement Act which are used to
protect the growers from unfair regulation but still
determine a uniform standard of quality that the grower must
comply with. Since these growers did not comply with the
contract and produced a product which did not conform by the
federal and state standards then the growers are under civil
penalty. If the U.S Court of Appeals did not defend the
U.S grading and inspection standard in the Wileman Brothers
vs. ESPY case consumers could have expected to see the
quality of seed, feed, fruit or any agriculture product to
decrease. This is because the lack of standards would allow
growers of the past and present to not produce a uniform and
healthy product.
Due to the grades, labeling, and inspection standards
changing throughout history, American consumers can buy safe
and uniform agricultural products today. State and federal
regulations have evolved to fit the needs of growers and
consumers. These laws allow consumers to receive valued
products and growers to have some standards to follow during
business transactions. Let me again restate a question to
you. Can you imagine what it would be like if the United
States of America did not have standards on seed, feed or
any agriculture product? For most individuals it is hard
imagine. With these standards that I have stated above its
easy to see that consumers can depend on receiving feed for
there livestock which has a uniform size or receiving seed
that is without weeds. State and federal regulations are
constantly being revised to change with consumers and
growers needs. With these future changes in standards and
regulations Americans will never have to worry about the
quality of seed, feed or any agriculture product.
Bibliography
Federal Reporter 3d, volume 58 pg 1367
Looney J.W and Donald Uchtmann, Agriculture Economics
McGraw Hill:New York (1994) pg343-354
U.S Code Annotated, Title 7 Agriculture 291-292
U.S Code Annotated, Title 7 Agriculture 2301-2306
U.S Code Annotated, Title 7 Agriculture 1551-1561