The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has recently become aware of a number of reports regarding unsolicited seeds from China being received by homeowners throughout the US, including Contra Costa County. CDFA is communicating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine any necessary actions for shipments received in California.
In the meantime, CDFA is instructing residents NOT to open any unsolicited seed packets received and to contact their local county agricultural commissioner’s office. Seed packets should NOT be opened, shipped, or disposed of by residents in order to prevent potential dispersal of invasive species, diseases, and/or quarantine pests. Unopened seed packets should be held by the resident or county official until further instructions are provided.
Please contact the Contra Costa Agricultural Commissioner’s Office at (925) 608-6600 if you received seeds in the mail that you did not order or have questions. If you are in possession of any of these seed packets, they will arrange for an inspector to pick it up at your convenience. If seeds have already been planted, please retrieve the seeds and any contaminated soil for pickup by a county Agricultural inspector.
This year just keeps getting better and better.
@Hondo~
Right, huh! What next..hope people don’t plant the seeds like Jack and the Beanstalk,as an ogre awaits yelling “fee-fi-fo-fum!”…
All kidding aside, unbelievable times…
Could this year get any weirder…who had magic beans for July?
IKR!
Why worry about a few harmless little triffid seeds?
invasive species can ruin an agricultural economy!
@Martinezmike
You stole my joke!!
Good one
@ Lovelace:
You need to know what triffids are!
LOL, Feed me Seymour!
Don’t put the seeds in the trash. There’s still a chance the bag opens, and the seeds disperse. Don’t put them down the drain. Call the Contra Costa Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, or the USDA office on Clayton Road so they can retrieve them.
You could also just smash them before you flushed them or threw them in the trash. I hardly think this is an issue you “need” the government for. But by all means if you need to feel important.
Sam, the matter isn’t about “needing” the government, but rather the USDA and other agencies are doing an investigation, and want to collect evidence.
If talking to the government freaks you out, then at the very least, bake the seeds in the oven before throwing them away. Contacting the USDA doesn’t mean men in black are going to control your life. You aren’t feeding the Leviathan by contacting the USDA.
I didn’t say anything about men in black or anyone controlling my life. You miss the point entirely. The idea that people are so helpless and “need” government to hold their hand to throw away seeds is a waste of my tax dollars. Next thing you know the usda will need to build a new department and hire another 1000 seed inspectors. I’m tired of getting taxed because people “need” government to wipe their a** for them.
And then there’s Kudzu.
I’m struggling to understand why the postal service isn’t intercepting these seeds……. They are showing the envelopes they are arriving in??? What’s up??? And thank you Natalie good tips!!!
@Cindy – the pics above are from the Agriculture Dept., I think. The post office doesn’t intercept these because they have no way of knowing what’s in the package. I saw another post that stated the packages are declared as containing jewelry. So unless customs opens or x-rays every package coming from China (maybe we SHOULD do that), USDA and Ag Commissioners will have to rely on the recipients doing the right thing.
This is serious stuff, by the way. If these seeds are invasive weeds, entire agricultural enterprises could be destroyed.
Same reason they don’t stop fentanyl coming from the same place.. Incompetence.
They are labeled as ear studs.
@Cindy Talbot – the envelopes are generic. We get millions of nearly identical envelopes from China every day. When I have ordered things from sellers in China they have been shipped to me in envelopes that are identical to the ones the seeds are coming in. China Post, Chinese customs, USA customs, and the US Postal Service all have systems to monitor the flow of packages and mail. The volume is too high to be opening and inspecting every package. To avoid scrutiny, the manifest for nearly every package says that it contains “samples.”
WoW . and more than that . seems like you just heard the strangest news and more comes . WTAF
The packages are supposedly marked jewelry. More fear being put out there along with the political pandemic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTK58HWsHIQ
LOLOL! Thanks for that @Auntbarbara!
This concerns me more than Covid-19!
China wants us dead. Don’t call anyone but the FBI if you receive these.
Several years ago, I mentioned to a friend that it seemed the residents of our lovely local hamlet were beginning to remind me of residents of another lovely little town. That other town was called Santa Mira. Movie trivia anyone?
Odd seeds growing? People behaving strangely. We seem to have all the elements . . .
LOLOL Refer above to @AuntBarbara
Is there anyone who can actually say that they received the seeds?
Asking for a friend.
What’s the problem? They just want the land to have familiar foiliage from the Homeland when they come to take possession and collect on the debt….
It’s time to cut China off at the knees.No people or goods what so ever.
We stupidly made them rich so now they are paying us back. I would sooner trust a rattlesnake.
Someone is gonna plant them. No question about it. We will hear about it in a couple years.
It’s how you plant a Democrat Victory Garden.
first the wuhan virus and now disease carrying seeds, what will the chinese think of next?
Looks like Triffid – Triffidus celestus seeds
https://carnivorousplantresource.com/the-plants/triffid-triffidus-celestus/
Biological warfare … by post
oops..wish i read this before planting in the community garden.
Unfortunately, those who think their “rights” are being infringed upon by authorities will plant their seeds out of spite.
Look what happened with the star thistle, which came from the middle East. It injures livestock, punctures bicycle tires and is nearly impossible to kill.
I see ranch workers walking through grazing land looking for the plants and removing what they find. I have seen entire fieldc taken over and rendered useless.
You are right star thistle is terrible!
It is toxic to horses. http://www.horsedvm.com/poisonous/yellow-star-thistle/
Is this a joke, for real? Or is some joker trying to make light of a serious situation
So, will somebody actually be testing these seeds?
Maybe the USDA?
I hope certainly hope someone is testing this seeds. This could be devastating to our agriculture/food supply at some point down the road. I find this worrisome
Now just what are they trying to spread now?
I guess their corvid19 wasn’t taking out enough of us to their liking. So stage two is in affect!!
Does anybody know what plant these seeds are from?