Title 03, Agriculture, Animals, and Food

(a) Subject to (b) of this section, the commissioner may adopt rules, regulations, and procedures requiring the classification, grading, and inspection of agricultural products before the products are sold or offered for sale for general consumption, and requiring the marking or …

(a) To carry out the requirements of this chapter, on any business day during the usual hours of business, or at any time if the commissioner determines that there is an immediate threat to the health or safety of an animal or the general public, the commissioner or an individual…

(a) An animal, animal product, or agricultural product found by the commissioner, or an individual designated by the commissioner as an inspector, to violate a regulation adopted under this chapter is declared to be a public nuisance injurious to the public interest and may not b…

(a) Elk may be raised and bred as domestic stock for commercial purposes, including the sale of meat, by a person who lawfully owns the elk and who holds a current valid elk farming license. The commissioner of natural resources may issue an elk farming license for the farming of…

(a) Industrial hemp is an agricultural crop in the state. An individual who produces industrial hemp shall apply to the department for registration under this section. Registration is valid for one year but may be renewed. An application for registration or renewal must be on a f…

(a) An individual registered under AS 03.05.076 shall have a copy of the individual's registration in immediate possession at all times when transporting industrial hemp and shall present the copy of the registration for inspection upon the demand of a peace officer or other auth…

(a) Notwithstanding AS 11.71.040 — 11.71.060, an individual registered under AS 03.05.076 to produce industrial hemp whose product has a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol content between 0.3 percent and one percent may retain and recondition the product as provided in AS 03.05.076(b)(…

(a) A record that includes information about an animal that is maintained by the Department of Environmental Conservation to carry out the requirements of this chapter, including a record of the sale, movement, unique identification number, or owner of an animal, is confidential …

(a) A person who violates a provision of this chapter or a regulation, order, or quarantine made under authority of this chapter, or violates a provision of a permit issued under this chapter, or sells seeds failing to meet the labeling requirements, standards, and tests provided…

In this chapter, (1) “agricultural products” does not include fish, fisheries products, animals, or animal products; (2) “animal” means an animal other than a human being and includes a mammal, insect, bird, fish, and reptile, whether wild or domestic, and whether living or dead;…

(a) There is established in the department the Board of Agriculture and Conservation composed of members as set out in AS 03.10.050(b). (b) Members of the board serve staggered three-year terms and until a successor is appointed. A member may be removed from office by the governo…

(a) The director of the division of the department with responsibility for agriculture shall serve as the director of the Board of Agriculture and Conservation. The director may employ staff and, as directed by the board, is responsible for the daily operations of the agricultura…

Four members of the Board of Agriculture and Conservation constitute a quorum for the transaction of business or the exercise of a power or function at a meeting of the board.

(a) The Board of Agriculture and Conservation may adopt regulations under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act) to carry out its duties. (b) The board may, by regulation, classify loan and marketing information and make some classes of loan or marketing information confidential…

The Board of Agriculture and Conservation may recommend to the commissioner that land in the land disposal bank established under AS 38.04.020 be classified as suitable for agriculture. The board may identify state land for agricultural disposal and request the commissioner to pr…

It is the policy of this chapter to promote the more rapid development of agriculture as an industry throughout the state by means of long-term low-interest loans.

(a) The Board of Agriculture and Conservation (AS 03.09.010) may (1) make a loan to (A) an individual resident farmer, homesteader, or a partnership or corporation composed of farmers and homesteaders for (i) clearing land for agricultural purposes; (ii) development of farms; (ii…

(a) A farm development, chattel, or irrigation loan made under this chapter (1) may not exceed a term of 30 years, except that a chattel loan may not exceed a term of seven years; (2) may not, when added to the outstanding balance of other loans made under this chapter, exceed a …

(a) To increase the return to the state, the Board of Agriculture and Conservation may restructure loans (1) in existence on January 1, 1987, made by the former Agricultural Revolving Loan Fund Board or by the former Alaska Agricultural Action Council based upon guidelines approv…

(a) A borrower may not use farm land for a nonfarm use or sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of farm land if that land is encumbered by a mortgage given to secure the payment of a loan under this chapter unless the borrower either (1) pays the outstanding balance of the loan in a …

(a) There is an agricultural revolving loan fund which may not exceed $75,000,000 to carry out the purpose of this chapter. (b) Money in the fund may be used by the legislature to make appropriations for costs of administering this chapter and for operations of the Board of Agric…

(a) The Board of Agriculture and Conservation shall administer the agricultural revolving loan fund. A loan may not be made without the approval of a majority of the board, except that emergency loans based upon regulations adopted by the board and not to exceed $50,000 may be ma…

The governor may declare a farm disaster in an area of the state if a natural disaster causes a crop failure.

This chapter may be cited as the Alaska Agricultural Loan Act.

The department shall enter into an agreement with the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation under which the department agrees to pay to the corporation a portion of federal crop insurance premiums paid by producers of agricultural commodities in this state. The agreement must provid…

Under the agreement, the department shall pay to the corporation for each covered producer an amount equal to the amount that the corporation pays for that producer under 7 U.S.C. 1508(b)(3) of the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 — 1520), except as provided otherwise in…

Thirty percent of each producer's premium, as calculated by the corporation, on coverage of up to 65 percent of the recorded or appraised average yield, as adjusted, shall be paid by the state.

(a) The payments to the corporation shall be made from funds appropriated from the general fund to the department for that purpose. (b) If for any year the amount appropriated is insufficient to fully fund the contribution required by AS 03.13.020, the department shall allocate f…

In this chapter, “corporation” means the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (7 U.S.C. 1503).

The state may grant aid to agricultural and industrial fair associations, incorporated under the laws of the state, to assist in the payment of (1) costs of operation and maintenance and (2) project costs for capital improvements of annual agricultural and industrial fairs.

(a) Fairs may be held each year in each of the house districts, and state aid for the operation and maintenance of the fairs may not exceed a basic grant of $10,000; however, fairs in existence five years or longer may receive an increment grant not to exceed $2,500 per year of e…

(a) Each agricultural and industrial fair association desiring to apply for an operation and maintenance grant shall apply to the commissioner before August 1 of the year preceding the fiscal year for which the grant is sought. It shall submit with the application a planned progr…

(a) Each agricultural and industrial fair association desiring to apply for a capital improvement grant shall apply to the commissioner before August 1 of the year preceding the fiscal year for which the grant is sought. It shall submit with the application a proposed long-term c…

The commissioner may collect and ship, for display outside of the state, exhibits of Alaska produce, mining, and manufacturing, and other exhibits, including the Native arts. The commissioner may expend not more than $2,000 a year for that purpose. The commissioner shall account …

Nothing in AS 03.20.010 — 03.20.080 prohibits the formation of more than one agricultural and industrial fair association in each house district or the holding of an agricultural and industrial fair in several places in each district. When more than one association is formed in a…

The commissioner may require an association to expend not more than 10 percent of the state operation and maintenance aid granted, for the purpose of buying nonperishable exhibits. Those exhibits shall be held by the association subject to the order of the commissioner.

(a) If an association has received state operation and maintenance funds under AS 03.20.010 — 03.20.080 and fails to hold a fair in accordance with its program, or does not disburse all of the state funds paid to it for that purpose, the association shall return those funds, or t…

For purposes of AS 03.20.010 — 03.20.080, (1) “agricultural and industrial fair” means a fair, the major focus of which is displays, exhibitions, demonstrations, contests, or promotions of agricultural or industrial concern to the region in which the fair is located, or any fair …

An individual may give to or exchange with another individual for noncommercial use in the state seed that is otherwise legal to possess in the state.

(a) A person may establish a community seed library for individual giving or exchanging of seed that is intended for home, educational, charitable, or noncommercial use in the state and that is harvested from a plant grown (1) outside the state and imported into the state in comp…

A person may not give seed to or exchange seed with another person under AS 03.20.110 and 03.20.120 in an amount that, for each person who receives the seed, exceeds 100 pounds.

A person involved in noncommercial giving or exchanging of seed under AS 03.20.110 and 03.20.120 may register online with the department under AS 44.37.030(b) and submit to the department information, including the person's name, telephone number, and electronic mail address, and…

Nothing in AS 03.20.110 — 03.20.150 authorizes a person to (1) violate 7 U.S.C. 2321 — 2582 (Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970); (2) give, exchange, or receive a seed (A) from a plant that is regulated as (i) a controlled substance under AS 11.71 or a drug under AS 17.20; or (…

(a) The division of the department with responsibility for agriculture shall establish a forgivable loan program in regulation, under which a recipient's loan may be forgiven by the department if the recipient implements a business plan approved by the department to develop or ma…

(a) The department shall establish a forgivable loan program in regulation, under which a recipient's loan may be forgiven by the department if the recipient implements a business plan approved by the department and begins processing meat, or increases the quantity of meat proces…