state of michigan
100th Legislature
Regular session of 2019
Introduced by Senators
Victory and Daley
ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 179
AN ACT to amend 1965 PA 232, entitled “An act relating to the marketing of agricultural commodities or agricultural commodity inputs; to provide for marketing and research programs, agreements, referendums by producers, assessments on producers, and commodity committees; and to prescribe certain functions of the department of agriculture relative thereto including powers of enforcement of this act; and to prescribe remedies and penalties,” by amending section 2 (MCL 290.652), as amended by 2002 PA 601.
The People of the State of Michigan enact:
(a) “Agricultural commodity” means all agricultural, aquacultural, silvicultural, horticultural, floricultural, or viticultural products, livestock or livestock products, Christmas trees, bees, maple syrup, honey, commercial fish or fish products, and seeds produced in this state, either in their natural state or as processed by the producer of the commodity. The kinds, types, and subtypes of products to be classed together as an agricultural commodity for the purposes of this act shall be determined on the basis of common usage and practice.
(b) “Agricultural commodity input” means an item used in the production, processing, or packaging of an agricultural commodity that is assessed by a specific marketing agreement. Agricultural commodity input does not include feed, fertilizer, and pesticides.
(c) “Committee” means the commodity committee or advisory board established under a marketing program.
(d) “Department” means the department of agriculture and rural development.
(e) “Director” means the director of the department.
(f) “Distributor” means a person engaged in selling, offering for sale, marketing, or distributing an agricultural commodity or agricultural commodity input that he or she has purchased or acquired from a producer or that the person is marketing on behalf of a producer, whether as owner, agent, employee, broker, or otherwise. Distributor does not include a retailer of an agricultural commodity except for either of the following:
(i) A retailer that purchases or acquires from or handles on behalf of a producer an agricultural commodity not previously subjected to regulations by the marketing program covering the agricultural commodity.
(ii) A retailer specifically identified by a marketing program that is subject to an assessment.
(g) “Financial institution” means a state or nationally
chartered bank, member of the farm credit system, savings and loan association,
savings bank, and credit union, whose deposits are insured by an agency of the
United States government and that maintains a principal or branch office
located in this state under the laws of this state or the United States.
(h) “Handler” means a person that takes title to and is engaged in the operation of packing, cleaning, drying, packaging, sizing, hauling, grading, selling, offering for sale, or marketing a marketable agricultural commodity or an agricultural commodity input in commercial quantities as defined in a marketing program, that as owner, agent, or otherwise, ships or causes an agricultural commodity or agricultural commodity input to be shipped.
(i) “Livestock” means that term as defined in section 3 of the animal industry act, 1988 PA 466, MCL 287.703.
(j) “Marketing agreement” means an agreement entered into, with the director, by producers, distributors, processors, or handlers under this act and binding only on those signing the agreement.
(k) “Marketing program” means a program established by order of the director under this act prescribing rules and regulations governing the marketing for processing, distributing, selling, or handling an agricultural commodity produced in this state or agricultural commodity input during a specified period and that the director determines would be in the public interest.
(l) “Processor” means a person engaged in canning, freezing, dehydrating, drying, fermenting, distilling, extracting, preserving, grinding, crushing, milling, or otherwise preserving or changing the form of an agricultural commodity for the purpose of marketing it.
(m) “Producer” means a person engaged in the business of producing, or causing to be produced for any market, an agricultural commodity or agricultural commodity input in quantity beyond that person’s own family use, and having a value at first point of sale of more than $800.00 or of an amount as otherwise expressly provided for in a marketing program for the agricultural commodity or agricultural commodity input in any 1 growing and marketing season within the last 3 years.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days after the date it is enacted into law.
Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect unless Senate Bill No. 174 of the 100th Legislature is enacted into law.
Secretary of the Senate
Clerk of the House of Representatives
Approved___________________________________________
____________________________________________________
Governor