Staff Report

INDIANAPOLIS – Have you received a pack of seeds in the mail?

“If you’ve received a package of seeds, Indiana’s Department. of Agriculture is advising any recipients of the seeds to send the packages to the Indiana State Seed Laboratory at Purdue for further study.,” according to US Rep. Jim Banks on his Facebook page

On Monday, the Office of Indiana State Chemist announced that at least two Hoosiers have received packages of seeds from China. These packages are mislabeled as containing “Stud earrings” and shipping labels have suggested they were from Shenzhen.

As of Sunday, agriculture departments in 27 states have issued warnings to residents urging them not to plant or throw away any unsolicited packages of seeds.

Banks also said in his post that officials have expressed concern that the seeds might be intended to introduce invasive species or to spread infectious diseases to American crops. This represents a serious threat to states like Indiana, where agriculture contributes an estimated $31.2 Billion to our economy and together with forestry, employs about 18,000 Hoosiers.

It’s not clear who is sending them or why, but there’s a small possibility that they’re malicious and contain invasive species or are intended to spread diseases. The Communist Party has sabotaged several U.S. industries ranging from defense manufacturing to pharmaceutical drugs so it wouldn’t be out of character for them to target our agricultural sector.