# Utah H.B. 253: Agriculture and Food Amendments Utah H.B. 253, Agriculture and Food Amendments, is a 2025 General Session House bill sponsored by Carl R. Albrecht (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-03-24 (Governor Signed); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB253-2025GS - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah H.B. 253 - State: Utah - Session: 2025 General Session - Title: Agriculture and Food Amendments - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-01-16 - Last action: 2025-03-24, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Carl R. Albrecht (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Agriculture, Department of Agriculture and Food, Livestock, Animals, Sales and Use Tax, Agriculture & Food - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 11 (138 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 15 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - More veterinarians qualify for loan repayment: benefit, medium. Utah expands access to its Veterinarian Education Loan Repayment Program. The added route requires at least 20% livestock medicine and 10% practice time across specified service settings. Those settings include Indian country, qualifying animal shelters, and employment with the Utah Department of A… - Lower grant match for farm irrigation: benefit, medium. The minimum applicant match for qualifying agricultural water optimization grants falls from 50% to 25% of total project costs. Covered projects involve subsurface drip irrigation, automated surge irrigation, or measurement, telemetry, or reporting. The change took effect May 7, 2025, and applies t… - Stronger sales rights for livestock owners: benefit, low. Local governments that allow someone to own livestock must also allow that person to trade, sell, or transfer livestock. Transfers cannot exceed the number the person is allowed to own. Local governments can require a business license for these activities. They cannot deny that license based wholly… - Fewer genetic paperwork rules for elk: benefit, low. Domesticated elk facilities and importers no longer need the specified genetic-purity certifications. Import rules also drop the listed red-deer genetic-factor, breeder-registration, and approved-state-program requirements. Importers must still prove that elk came from a legal source. - Later predator fees for livestock owners: benefit, low. Covered livestock owners now file predator-control forms and pay fees by December 31 instead of April 1. This applies to livestock using Utah public or private range that falls outside the specified cattle or sheep fee rules. The board sets annual fees by July 1 instead of January 1. The commission… - Longer brand registrations for livestock owners: benefit, low. Livestock brand applicants can choose expiration in the fifth or tenth year of the applicable renewal cycle. They must make that choice when applying. Previously, the law specified expiration in the fifth year. - Broader trading rights for plant food businesses: benefit, low. Agricultural cooperatives can supply plant food as part of their work for agricultural producers. The law extends sales and exchange protections to plant food importers, manufacturers, and businesses mixing materials for sale. Protected shipments to manufacturers or mixers remain subject to brand-r… - Land board manages farm conservation grants: benefit, low. The Utah Land Conservation Board administers the LeRay McAllister Working Farm and Ranch Fund Program. The board can authorize grants from the fund to eligible entities. This provision does not specify grant amounts or eligibility criteria. - Cannabis growers must report planned plant food: cost, low. Cannabis cultivation facilities must include intended plant food use in operating plans submitted with license applications or renewals. Plans must also describe cultivation practices and intended pesticide use, as already required. - Tighter deadlines and records for elk farms: cost, low. Domesticated elk facility licenses expire June 30 of the year after issuance, rather than July 1. Renewal applications and fees are due June 30; missing that deadline requires a new license. Each elk must have both an electronic tag and a unique visual tag; a USDA tag no longer substitutes. Facilit… - Farm environmental stewardship certification ends: cost, low. The Utah Agriculture Certificate of Environmental Stewardship Program ended on May 7, 2025. Farmers and other participants can no longer obtain its certificate. The law also removes the state agriculture department's duty to administer the program. - Plant food businesses face broader oversight: mixed, low. The Utah Plant Food Act covers fertilizers, soil and plant amendments, beneficial substances, biostimulants, inoculants, and their combinations. Each brand and grade generally needs registration before distribution, except an already-registered product with an identical label. Blenders following cu… - Conservation account gains direct spending authority: mixed, low. The Agriculture Conservation Easement Account is an expendable special revenue fund. The state agriculture department must use its money to monitor and enforce conservation easements the department holds. Spending no longer requires a legislative appropriation. The department cannot receive or spen… - Water revenue shifts from farm loan fund: mixed, low. The law removes designated sales-tax receipts from the Agriculture Resource Development Fund's listed revenue sources. For fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2003, a 3% share of referenced tax revenue goes instead to the Division of Conservation for water programs. The fund retains appropri… - Clearer plant food labels, stricter sales rules: mixed, low. Soil amendments and beneficial substances need labels showing purpose, use directions, warnings, registrant or manufacturer details, and net weight or volume. Labels must list non-nutrient ingredients responsible for intended effects in the required format; bulk buyers get this information at deliv… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Carl R. Albrecht (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Don L. Ipson (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-02-20 | Senate | Senate/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 26 | 0 | | | 2025-02-19 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd reading | pass | 24 | 0 | | | 2025-02-19 | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-19 | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-18 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 4 | 0 | | | 2025-02-06 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 72 | 0 | | | 2025-02-06 | House | House/ substituted | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-01-28 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 12 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | | House | House/ substituted | fail | 0 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | ## Actions (35) - 2025-03-24: Governor Signed - 2025-03-12: House/ to Governor (House) - 2025-03-12: House/ received enrolled bill from Printing (House) - 2025-03-07: House/ enrolled bill to Printing (House) - 2025-03-07: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2025-02-24: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2025-02-24: Bill Received from House for Enrolling - 2025-02-21: House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling (House) - 2025-02-21: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2025-02-20: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Senate/ passed 3rd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Senate/ 3rd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate/ passed 2nd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate/ uncircled (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate/ circled (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate/ 2nd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-18: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2025-02-18: Senate/ committee report favorable (Senate) - 2025-02-18: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation (Senate) - 2025-02-13: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2025-02-07: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2025-02-06: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2025-02-06: House/ to Senate (House) - 2025-02-06: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2025-02-06: House/ substituted (House) - 2025-02-06: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2025-01-29: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2025-01-29: House/ committee report favorable (House) - 2025-01-28: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation (House) - 2025-01-27: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2025-01-24: House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (House) - 2025-01-21: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2025-01-21: House/ received bill from Legislative Research (House) - 2025-01-16: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2025-03-07: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/HB0253.pdf) - Substitute #1, 2025-02-05: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0253S01.pdf) - Introduced, 2025-01-16: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0253.pdf) ## Related bills - S.B. 199: Guardianship Amendments (signed) - H.B. 562: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Amendments (signed) - H.B. 493: Medical Examiner Amendments (signed) - H.B. 482: Health and Human Services Reporting Requirements (signed) - S.B. 197: Property Tax Amendments (vetoed) - S.B. 3: Appropriations Adjustments (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/HB0253.pdf) - [Substitute #1 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0253S01.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0253.pdf) ## Related - [S.B. 199: Guardianship Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB199-2025GS) - [H.B. 562: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB562-2025GS) - [H.B. 493: Medical Examiner Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB493-2025GS) - [H.B. 482: Health and Human Services Reporting Requirements](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB482-2025GS) - [S.B. 197: Property Tax Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB197-2025GS) - [S.B. 3: Appropriations Adjustments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB3-2025GS) - [Utah bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah/bills) - [Utah state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB253-2025GS (as of 2026-10-17).