Title 2 — Agriculture

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Characteristics of commercial impact” means characteristics that may adversely affect the marketability of rice in the event of commingling with any other rice and includes, but is not limited to, those characteristics:(A) That cannot be identi…

No person may introduce, sell, plant, produce, harvest, transport, store, process, or otherwise handle rice identified as having characteristics of commercial impact, except in compliance with this subchapter and the rules adopted by the State Plant Board.

(a) The State Plant Board shall:(1) Administer and enforce this subchapter;(2) Promulgate rules to implement the purposes and requirements of this subchapter, including rules that will establish a penalty matrix for violations of this subchapter and the rules promulgated under th…

(a) The State Plant Board may appoint a Scientific Review Committee. (b) The committee shall review and make recommendations to the board concerning all matters contained in this subchapter, including:(1) Identifying rice that has characteristics of commercial impact;(2) Reviewin…

(a) Upon receiving a complaint alleging that a person has violated this subchapter or a rule of the State Plant Board, the board shall provide notice to the person and an opportunity for the person to respond to the complaint. (b) If the board determines that the complaint warran…

The provisions of this subchapter shall not apply to research conducted by a federal, state, or private entity, including an institution of higher education, which conforms to and is in compliance with all state and federal laws and rules for laboratory management practices.

(a) (1) The State Plant Board may impose a civil penalty for violation of § 2-15-203.(2) The penalty shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).(3) Each day of a continuing violation of § 2-15-203 is a separate violation. (1) The State Plant Board may impose a civil…

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Grain, Soybean, and Peanut Owner's Lien Act”.

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Affiliate” means a person that:(A) Is directly or indirectly controlled by a first purchaser; or(B) Directly or indirectly controls a first purchaser;(2) “Agreement to sell” means an enforceable oral or written agreement by which a grain, soybe…

(a) (1) To secure the obligations of a first purchaser to pay the sales price, a grain, soybean, or peanut owner is granted a lien in all grain, soybeans, or peanuts sold by the grain, soybean, or peanut owner for any unpaid portion of the sales price for the grain, soybeans, or …

An owner's lien is perfected automatically from July 22, 2015 or the date a sales agreement is executed after July 22, 2015 without the need to file a financing statement or other type of documentation.

(a) If grain, soybeans, or peanuts subject to an owner's lien are commingled with other grain, soybeans, or peanuts in a manner that the identity of the specific grain, soybeans, or peanuts subject to the owner's lien cannot be determined by reasonable means, the owner's lien con…

(a) (1) A purchaser or sales agent takes free of an owner's lien otherwise applicable to the grain, soybeans, or peanuts purchased and is relieved of any obligations created under § 2-15-303 if the purchaser or sales agent pays the full amount of required consideration for the gr…

Except for a permitted lien, an owner's lien takes priority over any other lien regardless of whether the lien arises by contract, law, equity, or otherwise.

(a) This subchapter does not affect the time at which legal title to grain, soybeans, or peanuts may pass by agreement or operation of law subject to an owner's lien. (b) This subchapter does not apply to:(1) A farm-owned cooperative; or(2) An entity licensed under the:(A) United…

(a) (1) A grain, soybean, or peanut owner shall not be required as a condition or term of an agreement to sell or otherwise to:(A) Waive, relinquish, or release an owner's lien or any rights under this subchapter other than upon payment in full of the sales price; or(B) Agree to …

(a) An owner's lien expires one (1) year after the last day of the month following the date the sales price from the sale of grain, soybeans, or peanuts subject to the lien is required by law or contract to be paid to the grain, soybean, or peanut owner but only as to the particu…

If this subchapter conflicts with other rights a grain, soybean, or peanut owner may have, the grain, soybean, or peanut owner's right to receive the sales price shall be given preference.

This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Industrial Hemp Production Act”.

(a) The purpose of this subchapter is to:(1) Recognize industrial hemp as an agricultural product;(2) Recognize the cultivation, processing, and transportation of industrial hemp as an agricultural activity in this state; and(3) Ensure that this state has primary regulatory autho…

(1) As used in this subchapter:(1) “Certified seed” means industrial hemp seed that has been certified as having no more tetrahydrocannabinol concentration than that adopted by federal law under the Agricultural Marketing Act, 7 U.S.C. § 1639o, as it existed on January 1, 2021;(2…

(a) The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Governor, shall develop a plan to monitor and regulate the industrial hemp production program in this state. (b) The Department of Agriculture shall submit the plan developed under subsection (a) of this section to the U…

(a) The State Plant Board shall adopt rules to implement and administer this subchapter. (b) Rules adopted by the board shall:(1) Prescribe the sampling, inspection, and testing procedures to ensure that the tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of industrial hemp planted, grown, or…

If any part of this subchapter conflicts with a provision of federal law relating to industrial hemp, the federal provision shall control to the extent of the conflict.

(a) The State Plant Board may establish a procedure for annual licensure to allow persons to grow industrial hemp in the state. (b) A license issued under this section shall authorize industrial hemp propagation only on the land areas specified in the license. (c) (1) A person se…

(a) A person shall obtain a grower license under this subchapter before planting or growing industrial hemp in this state. (b) A grower shall:(1) Maintain records that reflect compliance with this subchapter and all other state laws regulating the planting and cultivation of indu…

(a) The Department of Agriculture may enter onto land described by the grower to conduct inspections and collect and test samples. (b) The grower shall pay the cost of inspections under this section. (c) The department may inspect, collect samples from, or test plants from any po…

(a) (1) Chemical analysis shall be conducted in accordance with methods validated for use by ongoing documentation or internal or interlaboratory performance using known reference standards for the analyte or analytical specimens of interest and meeting one (1) or more of the fol…

(a) A grower shall report industrial hemp crop acreage with the United States Farm Service Agency and shall provide the following information:(1) The street address for each lot or greenhouse where industrial hemp will be produced;(2) To the extent practicable, the geospatial loc…

(a) (1) The State Plant Board shall revoke the license of a grower who fails to comply with this subchapter or the rules adopted under this subchapter.(2) A grower license revoked under subdivision (a)(1) of this section is ineligible for licensure under this subchapter for up to…

(a) An individual who has been convicted of a felony related to a controlled substance under federal or state law is ineligible, during the ten-year period following the date of the conviction, to participate in the industrial hemp production program under this subchapter. (b) An…

(a) Industrial hemp found off the premises of a licensee is contraband and subject to seizure by any law enforcement officer unless the individual has in his or her possession the documents required by subsection (b) of this section. (b) An individual transporting or having in hi…

(a) A grower has committed a negligent violation of this subchapter if the grower negligently:(1) Fails to provide a legal description of land on which the grower produces industrial hemp;(2) Fails to obtain a license from the State Plant Board; or(3) Produces Cannabis sativa wit…

(a) It shall be unlawful for a grower to:(1) Grow, process, sell or transfer, or permit the sale or transfer of living industrial hemp plants, viable hemp seed, leaf, or floral material to any person in a manner inconsistent with this subchapter or State Plant Board rule;(2) Hind…

(a) The owner of any valuable pear trees, cedar trees, or other growing trees of real value which have been or may hereafter be cut down and destroyed without his or her consent by the order and direction of the State Plant Board, or by its officers, employees, agents, or inspect…

(a) Every person, firm, or corporation bagging any commercial cotton insecticide or poison shall stamp on each bag or on a tag attached to each bag the date on which the insecticide or poison was manufactured. (b) (1) Any person, firm, or corporation failing or refusing to comply…

The State Plant Board is authorized to enter into agreements with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to hold and save the United States free from claims that may occur from control operations jointly carried on by the board and the United States Army Corps of Engineers, or…

(a) All fees, interest, penalties, and costs collected by the State Plant Board as authorized by law shall be deposited into the State Treasury on or before the fifth day of the month next following the month of collection thereof. (b) Upon receipt of the funds, the Treasurer of …

(a) (1) There is hereby established a program to be known as the “Fire Ant Poison Cost Sharing Program”.(2) This program shall be administered by the State Plant Board; which shall have the authority to establish the necessary rules and procedures for the administration of the pr…

The State Plant Board is empowered to recover any identifiable expenses from the owner or other person in possession or control of the property upon which it enforces, maintains, and administers any quarantine that is imposed due to infestations or infections of insect pests, dis…

The State Plant Board is hereby authorized to promulgate such rules as are necessary to administer the fees, rates, tolls, or charges for services established by §§ 2-16-407(f), 2-17-213, 2-17-238, 2-19-209(a), and 2-19-307(a) and is directed to prescribe and collect such fees, r…

(a) As used in this section:(1) “Board” means the State Plant Board; and(2) “Fund” means the State Plant Board Operations and Facilities Construction Fund. (1) “Board” means the State Plant Board; and (2) “Fund” means the State Plant Board Operations and Facilities Construction F…

(a) As used in this section, “turf” means field-cultivated turf grass sod consisting of grass varieties tested by the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program. (b) Turf shall be certified by the State Plant Board if the turf is:(1) Purchased with state moneys, either directly or ind…

This subchapter shall be known as the “Arkansas Plant Act of 1917”.

(1) As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Insect pests and diseases” means insect pests and diseases injurious to plants and plant products of this state including any of the stages of development of such insects and diseases;(2) “Persons” means i…

(a) Any person who shall violate any provision or requirement of this subchapter or the rules made or of any notice given under this subchapter or who shall forge, counterfeit, deface, destroy, or wrongfully use any certificate provided for in this subchapter or in the rules made…

In construing and enforcing the provisions of this subchapter, the act, omission, or failure of any official agent or other person acting for or employed by any person, association, partnership, or corporation within the scope of his or her employment or office shall, in every ca…

This subchapter shall not be so construed or enforced as to conflict in any way with any act of the United States Congress regulating the movement of plants and plant products in interstate or foreign commerce.

(a) There is created and established a State Plant Board, composed of nineteen (19) members, as follows:(1) Two (2) nonvoting members designated by the Vice President for Agriculture of the University of Arkansas or his or her designee;(2) A practical cotton grower, actively or p…

(a) (1) The State Plant Board shall keep itself informed as to the varieties of insect pests, diseases, and noxious weeds and the origin, locality, nature, and appearance thereof; the manner in which they are disseminated; and the approved methods of treatment and eradication.(2)…