ARTICLE 2. Definitions [14511. - 14564.]

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC 2.
in effect

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14511. Section 14511.

“Agricultural liming materials” are agricultural minerals composed of calcium or magnesium compounds, or both, which are capable of neutralizing soil acidity and which are distributed in this state for that purpose.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14512. Section 14512.

“Agricultural mineral” means any substance with nitrogen (N), available phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5 ), and soluble potash (K 2 O), singly or in combination, in amounts less than 5 percent which is distributed for farm use, or any substance only containing recognized essential secondary nutrients or micronutrients in amounts equal or greater than minimum amounts specified by the director, by regulation, and distributed in this state as a source of these nutrients for the purpose of promoting plant growth. It shall include gypsum, liming materials, manure, wood fly ash, sewage sludge not qualifying as commercial fertilizer, and captured dilute solutions.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14512.5. Section 14512.5.

“Ammonium nitrate” means solid ammonium nitrate that is chiefly the ammonium salt of nitric acid, contains not less than 33 percent of nitrogen, one-half of which is in the ammonium form and one-half of which is in the nitrate form, and is produced, imported, stored, offered for sale, sold, offered for distribution, received, or intended for use as a plant nutrient.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14513. Section 14513.

“Beneficial substance” means any substance or compound, other than primary plant nutrients, secondary plant nutrients, and micronutrients, and excluding pesticides, that can be demonstrated by scientific research to be beneficial to one or more species of plants, soil, or media. A beneficial substance includes, but is not limited to, plant biostimulants.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14518. Section 14518.

“Business location” means any place where fertilizing materials are sold or stored for later sale, except storage of package materials on premises operated exclusively as a public warehouse.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14520. Section 14520.

“Chelates” means compounds, usually organic, which can combine with a metal ion and form a ring structure between a portion of the chelating agent molecule and the metal.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14521. Section 14521.

“Chelated plant nutrients” means compounds of metallic secondary nutrients and micronutrients with organic chelating agents which have the property of being available under pH conditions in which the nutrients normally form insoluble compounds.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14522. Section 14522.

“Commercial fertilizer” means any substance which contains 5 percent or more of nitrogen (N), available phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5 ), or soluble potash (K 2 O), singly or collectively, which is distributed in this state for promoting or stimulating plant growth. “Commercial fertilizer” includes both agricultural and specialty fertilizers. “Specialty fertilizers” may contain less than 5 percent nitrogen (N), available phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5 ), or soluble potash (K 2 O), singly or collectively.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14524. Section 14524.

“Complex” means bonding which includes both of the following: (a) “Natural organic complexes” means organic by-products of the wood pulp and other industries, such as the lignin sulfonates and polyflavinoids, that form complexes with metallic secondary nutrients and micronutrients. “Natural organic complexes” do not include synthetic chelates in that natural organic complex, generally known as the natural organic chelates which are polymers, for which the nature of the metallic bonding is not known. (b) “Inorganic complexes” include inorganic cations which form coordinate chemical bonds with other inorganic cations, anions, or neutral molecules, such as where metal-ammonia complexes of zinc or ammonia are coordinately bonded to the metal cation, and which usually reacts differently than the metal alone in solutions, but dissociates in soil and reacts as the uncomplexed cation.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14526. Section 14526.

“Composting” means the biological decomposition of organic matter which inhibits pathogens, viable weed seeds, and odors. “Composting” may be accomplished by mixing and piling in a way as to promote aerobic or anaerobic decay, or both.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14528. Section 14528.

“Discontinued manufacturing” means a beneficial substance, packaged agricultural mineral, organic input material, and specialty fertilizer that is no longer manufactured, but is still offered for sale.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14530. Section 14530.

“Distributor” means any person who imports or consigns a fertilizing material or who offers for sale, sells, barters, or othewise supplies this product for use in, or shipment within or into, this state.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14531. Section 14531.

“Experimental use” means any application of a fertilizing material which is not offered for sale, has no commercial value, and is for the sole purpose of obtaining scientific data.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14534. Section 14534.

“Fish emulsion” means fertilizing material from which the guaranteed nutrients are derived primarily from fish, which contains a minimum of 40 percent total solids from fish, and which may contain additional sources of nitrogen, available phosphoric acid, and soluble potash for standardization purposes or stabilization purposes, or for both purposes, that shall be included in the required guaranteed analysis and derivation statement.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14535. Section 14535.

“Grade” means the percentage of total nitrogen, available phosphoric acid, and soluble potash stated in the same terms, order, and percentage as the guaranteed analysis.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14537. Section 14537.

(a) “Gypsum” means calcium sulfate dihydrate, a mineral used in the fertilizer industry as a source of calcium and sulfur which is also known as landplaster. (b) “Phosphatic sulfate gypsum” means a by-product of calcium dihydrate from the manufacture of phosphoric acid, also known as phosphogypsum.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14538. Section 14538.

“Hydroponics” means a system in which water soluble primary or secondary plant nutrients or micronutrients, or combination thereof, are placed in intimate contact with the plant’s root system, being grown in a water or an inert supportive medium which supplies physical support for the roots but which does not add or subtract primary or secondary plant nutrients or micronutrients, or both.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14540. Section 14540.

“Label” means the display of all written, printed, or graphic matter on the immediate container of, or a statement, including the guaranteed analysis, accompanying fertilizing material.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14542. Section 14542.

“Labeling” means all written, printed, or graphic matter on, accompanying, or used in promoting the sale of any fertilizing material, including advertisements, brochures, posters, internet websites, and television and radio announcements.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14548. Section 14548.

“Natural organic fertilizer” means materials derived from either plant or animal products containing one or more nutrients other than carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, which are essential for plant growth, which may be subjected to biological degradation processes under normal conditions of aging, rainfall, sun-curing, air drying, composting, rotting, enzymatic, or anaerobic/aerobic bacterial action, or any combination of these, which shall not be mixed with synthetic materials or changed in any physical or chemical manner from their initial state except by physical manipulations such as drying, cooking, chopping, grinding, shredding, or pelleting.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14549. Section 14549.

“Noncommercial use” means materials used primarily for application to lawns, shrubbery, flowers, trees, or where there is no crop for commercial value or economic purpose, excluding golf courses, cemeteries, and nurseries.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14550.5. Section 14550.5.

“Organic input material” means any bulk or packaged commercial fertilizer, agricultural mineral, beneficial substance, or specialty fertilizer, excluding pesticides, that is to be used in organic crop and food production and that complies with the requirements of the National Organic Program standards, as specified in Part 205 (commencing with Section 205.1) of Subchapter M of Chapter I of Subtitle B of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14555. Section 14555.

“Plant” means any business location where fertilizing materials are manufactured, sold, or stored for later sale, except storage of packaged materials on premises operated exclusively as a public warehouse.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14555.5. Section 14555.5.

“Plant biostimulant” means a substance or microorganism, or mixtures thereof, 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. The plant biostimulant thereby may improve nutrient availability, uptake, or use efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, and consequent growth, development, quality, or yield.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14557. Section 14557.

“Provisional registration” means that under certain circumstances, a label for renewal on a beneficial substance, packaged agricultural mineral, organic input material, or specialty fertilizer, alone or in any combination, may be registered for a limited period of time while labels are being corrected and reprinted or during registration renewal.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14561. Section 14561.

“Soil conditioners” means polyelectrolytes, such as complex vinyl and acrylic compounds and certain cellulose and lignin derivatives, which tend to agglomerate soil colloids and produce a crumb structure in the soil and increase the permeability of the soil to air and water and increase its resistance to crusting when it dries out.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14562. Section 14562.

“Soilless growing medium” means a medium of an inorganic substance, such as sand or gravel, or in a soilless organic material such as sphagnum peat or pine bark, and periodically watered with a primary or secondary plant nutrient or micronutrient solution, or both.

Cal. Food and Agricultural Code - FAC § 14563. Section 14563.

“Specialty fertilizer” means packaged commercial fertilizer labeled for home gardens, lawns, shrubbery, flowers, and other similar noncommercial uses. These products may contain less than 5 percent nitrogen (N), available phosphoric acid (P 2 O 5 ), or soluble potash (K 2 O), singly or collectively, detectable by chemical methods.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

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