As used in this chapter, except for Article 9:

(1) "Advertisement" means all representations, other than those on the label, relating to seed within the scope of this chapter.

(2) "Agricultural seed" means grass, forage, cereal, oil, fiber, and other kinds of crop seeds commonly recognized within this State as agriculture seeds, lawn seeds, and combinations of these seeds and may include noxious weed seeds when the Commissioner determines that the seed is being used as agricultural seed.

(3) "Blend" means seed consisting of more than one variety of a kind, each in excess of five percent by weight of the whole.

(4) "Brand" means a word, name, symbol, number, or design used to identify seed of one person to distinguish it from seed of another person.

(5) "Bulk" means a volume of seed in a container larger than a typical individual packing unit for that kind, such as bulk bags and boxes, bins, trucks, railcars, or barges.

(6) "Certified seed", "registered seed", or "foundation seed" means seed that has been produced and labeled in accordance with the procedures and in compliance with the regulations of an agency authorized by the laws of this State or the laws of another state.

(7) "Certifying agency" means:

(a) an agency authorized under the laws of a state, territory or possession to officially certify seed and which has standards and procedures approved by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to assure the genetic purity and identity of the seed certified; or

(b) an agency of a foreign country determined by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to adhere to procedures and standards for seed certification comparable to those adhered to generally by seed certifying agencies under subitem (a).

(8) "Coated seed" or "encrusted seed" means seed that has been covered, by at least one layer of material that obscures the original shape and size of the seed resulting in a substantial weight increase. The coating or encrusting may contain biologicals, identifying colorants or dyes, pesticides, polymers, or other ingredients.

(9) "Complete record" means all information that relates to the origin, treatment, germination, purity, kind, and variety of each lot of agriculture seed sold in this State, or which relates to the treatment, germ, kind, and variety of each lot of vegetable and flower seed sold in this State. This information includes seed samples and records of declarations, labels, purchases, sales, conditioning, bulking, treatment, handling, storage, analyses, tests, and examinations.

(10) "Conditioning" means drying, cleaning, scarifying, and other operations which could change the purity or germination of the seed and require the seed lot to be retested to determine the label information.

(11) "Cost damages" means actual expenditures by the grower for the cost of seed, labor, equipment, fertilizer, insecticide, herbicide, land rent and other directly related costs, less the value received from the crop actually grown and sold.

(12) "Date of test" means the month and year the percentage of germination appearing on the label was obtained by laboratory test.

(13) "Dormant" means viable seed, excluding hard seed, which fail to germinate when provided the specified germination conditions for the kind of seed in question.

(14) "Film-coated seed" means seed that retains its shape and general size with minimal weight gain. The film coating may contain biologicals, identifying colorants, dyes, pesticides, polymers, or other ingredients. The coating shall result in a continuous covering.

(15) "Flower seeds" includes seeds of herbaceous plants grown for their blooms, ornamental foliage, or other ornamental parts, and commonly known and sold under the name of flower or wildflower seeds in this State.

(16) "Genuine grower declaration" means a statement signed by the grower which gives for each lot of seed the lot number, kind, variety (if known), origin, weight, year of production, date of shipment, and to whom the shipment was made.

(17) "Germination" means the emergence and development from the seed embryo of those essential structures which, for the kind of seed in question, or indicative of the ability to produce a normal plant under favorable conditions.

(18) "Hermetically sealed seed" means seed packed in a moisture-proof container when the container and the seed in the container meet the requirements specified by regulation.

(19) "Hard seeds" means seeds which remain hard at the end of the prescribed test period because they have not absorbed water due to an impermeable seed coat.

(20) "Hybrid" means the first generation seed of a cross produced by controlling the pollination and by combining:

(a) two or more inbred lines;

(b) one inbred or a single cross with an open pollinated variety; or

(c) two varieties or species, except open-pollinated varieties of corn (Zea mays). The second generation or subsequent generations from these crosses are not regarded as hybrids. Hybrid designations are treated as variety names.

(21) "Inert matter" means all matter not seed, which includes broken seed, sterile florets, chaff, fungus bodies, and stones as determined by methods defined by regulation.

(22) "Inoculated seed" means seed which has received a coating of a preparation containing a microbial production.

(23) "Kind" means one or more related species or subspecies which singly or collectively is known by one common name, for example, corn, oats, alfalfa, and timothy.

(24) "Labeling" means a tag or other device attached to or written, stamped, or printed on a container or accompanying a lot of bulk seed purporting to set forth the information required on the seed label by this act, and it may include other information relating to the labeled seed.

(25) "Lawn and turf" means seeds of the grass family (Poaceae) that are used within the industry for lawn and turf applications.

(26) "Lot" means a definite quantity of seed identified by a unique lot number or other mark, every portion or bag of which is uniform within recognized tolerances for the factors which appear in the labeling.

(27) "Mix", "mixed", or "mixture" means seed consisting of more than one kind, each in excess of five percent by weight of the whole.

(28) "Noxious weed seeds" are divided into the following two classes:

(a) "Prohibited noxious weed seeds" means those seeds that are prohibited from being present in agricultural, vegetable, or flower seed and are the seeds of weeds that are highly destructive and difficult to control by good cultural practices and the use of herbicides.

(b) "Restricted noxious weed seeds" means those weed seeds that are objectionable in agricultural crops, lawns, and gardens of this State and may be controlled by good cultural practices or the use of herbicides.

(29) "Official sample" means a sample taken from a lot of seed by a representative of a seed regulatory official of a state or federal government agency following prescribed methods.

(30) "Origin" means the state, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, possession of the United States or the foreign country where the seed was grown. Regional distinctions also may be included.

(31) "Other crop seed" means seeds of plants grown as crops, other than the kind or variety included in the pure seed, as determined by methods defined by regulation.

(32) "Pelleted seed" means coated or encrusted seed that also improves plantability or singulation of the seed.

(33) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation, company, association, receiver, trustee, or agent.

(34) "Private hearing" means a discussion of facts between the person charged and the enforcement officer.

(35) "Pure seed" means seed exclusive of inert matter and all other seeds not of the seed being considered as determined by methods defined by regulation.

(36) "Seizure" means a legal process carried out by court order against a definite amount of seed.

(37) "Stop sale" means an administrative order provided by law restraining the sale, use, disposition, and movement of a definite amount of seed.

(38) "Submitted sample" means a nonofficial sample that does not guarantee chain of custody.

(39) "Treated" means that the seed has received an application of a substance or that it has been subjected to a process for which a claim is made.

(40) "Treated seed" means seed with a minimal covering of material whose objective is to reduce or control disease organisms, insects, or other pests attacking the seed or seedlings growing and may contain identifying colorants or dyes.

(41) "Type" means a group of varieties so nearly similar that the individual varieties cannot be clearly differentiated except under special conditions.

(42) "Variety" means a subdivision of a kind which is distinct, uniform, and stable.

(a) "Distinct" means the variety can be differentiated by one or more identifiable morphological, physiological, or other characteristics from all other varieties of public knowledge.

(b) "Uniform" means that the variations in essential and distinctive characteristics are describable.

(c) "Stable" means the variety will remain unchanged in its essential and distinctive characteristics and its uniformity when reproduced or reconstituted as required by the different categories of varieties.

(43) "Vegetable seeds" means the seeds of those crops which are grown in gardens and on truck farms and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable or herb seeds in this State.

(44) "Weed seed" means the seeds of all plants generally recognized as weeds within this State, as determined by methods defined by regulation, and includes the prohibited and restricted noxious weed seeds.

HISTORY: 1940 (41) 1875; 1942 Code Sections 5806-71, 5806-73, 5806-74, 5806-75, 5806-76; 1952 Code Section 3-401; 1962 Code Section 3-401; 1976 Code Section 46-21-10; 2010 Act No. 238, Section 2, eff. upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on June 8, 2010).