(COLUMBUS, OHIO) — According to an article in The Columbus Dispatch on January 27, Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. has agreed to plead guilty to charges in federal court and pay $4.5 million in fines in two incidents that date to 2008.

That year, the company recalled packages of wild birdseed coated with pesticides that were toxic to birds.

In a separate incident that year, federal officials discovered that the company was selling lawn and garden products with falsified U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pesticide registration numbers. The guilty plea and fines were contained in a plea-agreement document filed yesterday at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Court documents state that, from November 2005 to March 2008, Scotts distributed 73 million units of birdseed coated with insecticides called Storcide II and Actellic 5E. This was done to keep insects from eating the seeds during storage.

Storcide’s label says the pesticide is "extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other wildlife." Documents state that Scotts continued to sell the products despite warnings in the summer and fall of 2007 from a pesticide chemist and an ornithologist, both of whom worked for the company.

Also in 2008, Federal EPA officials discovered that Scotts was selling lawn and garden products with falsified pesticide registrations. Court documents list a Scotts lawn service fertilizer, a garden "weed preventer and plant food" and another product called Southern Max Fire Ant Killer.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) just released the new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM), updating a useful tool for gardeners and researchers for the first time since 1990 with greater accuracy and detail.

For the first time, the new map offers a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based interactive format and is specifically designed to be Internet-friendly. The map website also incorporates a "find your zone by ZIP code" function. Static images of national, regional and state maps also have been included to ensure the map is readily accessible to those who lack broadband Internet access.

Plant hardiness zone designations represent the average annual extreme minimum temperatures at a given location during a particular time period. They do not reflect the coldest it has ever been or ever will be at a specific location, but simply the average lowest winter temperature for the location over a specified time. Low temperature during the winter is a crucial factor in the survival of plants at specific locations.

The new map—jointly developed by USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Oregon State University's (OSU) PRISM Climate Group—is available online at www.planthardiness.ars.usda.gov

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Hindered by unfavorable planting and growing conditions during 2011, U.S. farmers produced a smaller crop than the previous year according to the Crop Production 2011 Summary recently released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Depending on location, producers in the United States battled everything from drought and above normal temperatures to heavy rains and lowland flooding which led to decreased production of corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat – the first time such a year-to-year decrease has occurred in all four commodities since the 2002 crop year. The full Crop Production 2011 Summary is available online at www.nass.usda.gov.

(ATLANTIC CITY, NJ) — William V. Griffin, a Middlesex County nurseryman who has had a life-long commitment to giving back to the agricultural community, was honored January 18 with a Distinguished Service Citation at the New Jersey Agricultural Convention held in Atlantic City.

"Bill is a tireless advocate for New Jersey agriculture who is a true leader for our industry," said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. "He never shies away from a challenge and has fought on agriculture's behalf on a number of issues over the years."

Griffin served on the State Board of Agriculture from 2004 to 2008, and in 2008, as President of the Board, Griffin worked with his other Board members, New Jersey Farm Bureau and a variety of groups to help save the New Jersey Department of Agriculture when then-Governor Corzine proposed to eliminate the department. Their efforts led to a tractor rally in front of the State House, which led Corzine to relent, thus preserving the Department.

"It is an extremely humbling experience and very gratifying to have one's accomplishments recognized by one's peers," said Griffin. "I am very grateful for the opportunities I've been afforded and the many wonderful people I have met and worked with over the years. Whatever contributions I have been able to make to the agricultural community were always with the help and assistance of others."

Griffin graduated from East Brunswick High School and went on to earn a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University before coming back to the family farm, W.V. Griffin Nurseries, a diverse 110-acre farm, now owned by Griffin and his wife, Cathy. The operation is a mix of field-grown wholesale nursery production, Christmas Tree production and re-wholesale nursery distribution, as well as choose and cut retail Christmas trees.

Griffin has spent a good portion of his life serving the greater good of the New Jersey Agriculture industry. He currently serves as President of the New Jersey Agricultural Society and Middlesex County Board of Agriculture, and has been on the Executive Committee of that body since 1973. He is director for the New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association and Secretary of the Middlesex County Agricultural Development Board, of which he has been a member since 1984. He also is a long-time member of New Jersey Farm Bureau and the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association.

Griffin is not the first in his family to receive the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Citation; his father, Willets V. Griffin, was honored with the award in 1989.

For more information on the Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award, visit www.nj.gov/agriculture/about/sba/guidelin.html.

(TRENTON, NJ) — Richard Nieuwenhuis, president of New Jersey Farm Bureau, and owner-operator of Scenic Valley Greenhouses in White Township, Warren County, was elected to a third term on the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) Board of Directors. He serves as a representative of the Northeast Region, which includes New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and nine other states. The American Farm Bureau, with 6.2 million members, has four representative regions: northeast, south, mid-west and west. It is headquartered in Washington DC.

Nieuwenhuis has served New Jersey's agriculture community for more than 20 years, successfully leading the NJ Farm Bureau through often trying times, since 2002. He was appointed to the State Board of Agriculture by Governor Whitman in 1994, and served as its president in 1997-98. He chaired both the nominating committee and the committee to revise the New Jersey Right to Farm Act

Beth Pool, co-owner of Sebowisha Farms, Mickleton, Gloucester County, was also re-elected for a third term on the AFBF Women's Leadership Committee. Pool has served on the New Jersey Farm Bureau Women's Committee for more than 30 years, six of which as state chair. The importance of the women's leadership in agriculture was duly noted in an AFBF statement: "As the number of women as principal operators on farms and ranches increases, so will the role of women in agriculture leadership. The possibilities for involvement in the industry are limitless and the goal of our committee is to provide the leadership tools needed to make a difference."

The AFBF's mandate this year is to scrutinize the new Farm Bill, due in 2012. The organization has endorsed rewriting policy to establish a program that protects farmers from catastrophic revenue losses that can threaten the viability of a farm or ranch.

For further information, contact the New Jersey Farm Bureau, at The Farmhouse, 168 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08608. Phone 609-393-7163; fax 609-393-7072; email mail@njfb.org; website www.njfb.org