(A) Producers of an agricultural commodity in this state may present to the director of agriculture a petition signed by at least two hundred or twenty-five per cent of all the producers of that agricultural commodity in this state, whichever is less, requesting the director to approve a marketing agreement for that agricultural commodity.

(B) A petition submitted under division (A) of this section shall include all of the following:

(1) A document that creates and identifies a provisional board of directors for the purpose of facilitating the execution of the proposed marketing agreement, which shall consist of at least three, but not more than five producers of the agricultural commodity that is the subject of the proposed marketing agreement;

(2) A proposed marketing agreement that at a minimum contains a description of all of the following:

(a) The affected agricultural commodity or the region of the state concerning the agricultural commodity that is the subject of the proposed marketing agreement;

(b) Any standards that will be adopted under the proposed marketing agreement;

(c) Procedures by which the proposed marketing agreement may be amended;

(d) The length of time that the proposed marketing agreement will be in effect;

(e) The size and composition of a board of directors that will be established under the marketing agreement for the purpose of administering the agreement;

(f) The method by which the members of the board of directors that will be established under the marketing agreement will be elected;

(g) The estimated costs to and rate of assessment to be made on each person who is a signatory to the marketing agreement for purposes of membership, inspections, or other services provided by the board of directors under the marketing agreement in conjunction with the person's participation in the marketing agreement;

(h) The minimum number of producers that are necessary for the marketing agreement to be financially self-supporting;

(i) Any other information that the director may require by rule.

(3) An unbiased and accurate summary of the proposed marketing agreement.

(C) The petitioners shall include with the petition submitted under division (A) of this section all of the following:

(1) A current list of producers of the agricultural commodity or in the region of the state concerning the agricultural commodity that is the subject of the proposed marketing agreement. The list may be created from existing records or records that are available from any reliable source.

(2) An administration fee of five hundred dollars or another amount that the director determines is necessary to pay the costs of the director of notifying all known producers of the affected agricultural commodity or in the region of the state concerning the agricultural commodity that is the subject of the proposed marketing agreement and the costs of conducting the public meeting that is required in section 924.43 of the Revised Code concerning the proposed marketing agreement;

(3) Information that demonstrates that the producers of the agricultural commodity or in the region of the state concerning the agricultural commodity that is the subject of the proposed marketing agreement have sufficient money to pay the costs of a board of directors to administer the marketing agreement and to pay the costs of administration and enforcement of the marketing agreement.

Added by 129th General AssemblyFile No.144, SB 309, §1, eff. 12/26/2012.