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2025 Utah Code
Title 4 - Utah Agricultural Code
Chapter 13 - Utah Plant Food Act
Section 102 - Definitions.
Universal Citation:
UT Code § 4-13-102 (2025)
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Effective 5/7/2025
4-13-102. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
Amended by Chapter 91, 2025 General Session
4-13-102. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
- (1)"Adulterated" means a plant food that:
- (a)contains a deleterious or harmful substance in sufficient amount to render it injurious to beneficial plant life, animals, humans, aquatic life, soil, or water when applied in accordance with the directions for use on the label;
- (b)has a composition that falls below or differs from that which the composition is purported to possess by the composition's labeling;
- (c)contains unwanted crop or weed seed; or
- (d)exceeds levels of metals permitted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
- (2)"Beneficial substance" means a substance or compound, other than a primary nutrient, secondary nutrient, or micro plant nutrient, and excluding a pesticide, that can be demonstrated by scientific research to be beneficial to one or more species of plants, soil, or media.
- (3)"Blender" means a person engaged in the business of blending or mixing plant food.
- (4)"Brand" means a term, design, or trade mark used in connection with one or several grades of plant food.
- (5)"Bulk" means plant food delivered to a purchaser in a non-packaged form.
- (6)"Custom blend" means a plant food blended according to specification provided to a blender in a soil test nutrient recommendation or to meet the specific consumer request before blending.
- (7)"Deficiency" means the amount of nutrient found by analysis to be less than that guaranteed.
- (8)"Derivation" means the source from which the guaranteed nutrients are derived.
- (9)"Distribute" means to offer for sale, sell, exchange, or barter plant food.
- (10)"Distributor" means a person who distributes.
- (11)"Fertilizer" means a substance that contains one or more recognized plant nutrients that is used for the substance's plant nutrient content and is designed for use or claimed to have value in promoting plant growth, exclusive of unmanipulated animal and vegetable manures, marl, lime, limestone, wood ashes, gypsum, and other products exempted by rule.
- (12)"Fertilizer material" means a fertilizer that contains:
- (a)quantities of no more than one of the primary plant nutrients, nitrogen (N), phosphate (P2O5), Potash (K2O);
- (b)85% plant nutrients in the form of a single chemical compound; or
- (c)plant or animal residues or by-products, or a natural material deposit that is processed so that its primary plant nutrients have not been materially changed, except through purification and concentration.
- (13)"Grade" means the percentage of total nitrogen, available phosphate and soluble potash stated in the same terms, order, and percentages as in the guaranteed analysis.
- (14)
- (a)"Guaranteed analysis" means the minimum percentage by weight of plant nutrients claimed in the following order and form:
- Total Nitrogen (N) ____ percent
- Available Phosphate (P2O5) ____ percent
- Soluble Potash (K2O) ____ percent
- (b)For unacidulated mineral phosphatic material and basic slag, bone, tankage, and other organic phosphate or degree of fineness may also be guaranteed.
- (c)
- (i)Guarantees for plant nutrients other than nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium may be permitted or required by rule of the department.
- (ii)The guarantees for such other nutrients shall be expressed in the form of the element.
- (iii)The sources of such other nutrients, such as oxides, salt, chelates, may be required to be stated on the application for registration and may be included as a parenthetical statement on the label.
- (iv)Other beneficial substances or compounds, determinable by laboratory methods, also may be guaranteed by permission of the department.
- (v)Any plant nutrients or other substances or compounds guaranteed are subject to inspection and analysis in accord with the methods and rules prescribed by the department.
- (a)"Guaranteed analysis" means the minimum percentage by weight of plant nutrients claimed in the following order and form:
- (15)"Investigational allowance" means an allowance for variations inherent in the taking, preparation, and analysis of an official sample of plant food.
- (16)"Label" means the display of the written, printed, or graphic matter upon the immediate container or statement accompanying plant food.
- (17)"Labeling" means the written, printed, or graphic matter upon or accompanying plant food, or advertisements, brochures, posters, television and radio announcements used in promoting the sale of plant food.
- (18)"Lot" means a definite quantity identified by a combination of numbers, letters, characters, or amount represented by a weight certificate from which every part is uniform within recognized tolerances from which the distributor can be determined.
- (19)"Micro plant nutrient" means boron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, sodium, and zinc.
- (20)"Mixed fertilizer" means a fertilizer containing any combination or mixture of fertilizer materials.
- (21)"Official sample" means a sample of plant food taken by the department and designated as "official."
- (22)"Percent" or "percentage" means the percentage by weight.
- (23)"Plant amendment" means a substance applied to plants or seeds that is intended to improve growth, yield, product quality, reproduction, flavor, or other favorable characteristics of plants except fertilizer, soil amendments, agricultural liming materials, animal and vegetable manure, pesticides, or plant regulators.
- (24)"Plant biostimulant" means a substance, microorganism, or mixture of a substance and microorganism, that, when applied to seeds, plants, the rhizosphere, soil, or other growth media, act to support a plant's natural nutrition processes independently of the biostimulant's nutrient content, and thereby improving:
- (a)nutrient availability;
- (b)uptake;
- (c)use efficiency;
- (d)tolerance to abiotic stress; and
- (e)consequent growth, development, quality, or yield.
- (25)"Plant food" means a fertilizer, soil amendment, beneficial substance, plant amendment, plant biostimulant, plant inoculant, soil inoculant, or any combination of these products.
- (26)"Plant inoculant" means a product consisting of microorganisms to be applied to the plant or soil for the purpose of enhancing the availability or uptake of plant nutrients through the root system.
- (27)"Primary nutrient" includes total nitrogen, available phosphate, and soluble potash.
- (28)"Registrant" means a person who registers a plant food under this chapter.
- (29)"Secondary nutrient" includes calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.
- (30)"Soil amending ingredient" means a substance that will improve the physical, chemical, biochemical, biological, or other characteristics of the soil.
- (31)"Soil amendment" means a substance or a mixture of substances that is intended to improve the physical, chemical, biochemical, biological, or other characteristics of the soil, except fertilizers, agricultural liming materials, unmanipulated animal manures, unmanipulated vegetable manures, or pesticides.
- (32)"Soil inoculant" means a microbial product that is applied to colonize the soil to benefit the soil chemistry, biology, or structure.
- (33)"Specialty fertilizer" means fertilizer distributed primarily for non-farm use, such as home gardens, lawns, shrubbery, flowers, golf courses, municipal parks, cemeteries, greenhouses, and nurseries.
- (34)"Ton" means a net weight of 2,000 pounds avoirdupois.
Amended by Chapter 91, 2025 General Session
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