Fertilizer Licensees and Registrants:

Michigan's Fertilizer Law, Act 451, Part 85, Fertilizers, was recently amended (as Public Act 503 of 2006).  The amendments become effective on March 30, 2007.  The amendments help bring Michigan's 31-year old law more in line with the national model fertilizer law.  Most of the changes address definitions, labeling, tonnage reporting and analytical methods.  New additions involve licensing for custom blend specialty fertilizers and soil conditioners and administrative penalties.  Fertilizer application and phosphorus use provisions were not included.  

A summary of the changes and a copy of the revised Michigan Fertilizer Law are enclosed.  There are a number of minor changes, some of the more significant ones are:

• Labeling Requirements.   Please look closely at Sections 8502 and 8503 to see if any of these requirements will affect your fertilizer labels and/or invoices.
• Licensing and Registration.  The manufacturer/distributor license remains unchanged, but there will be a new license category. 
  • Specialty Use Fertilizers & Soil Conditioner Licensing - allows a $100 facility license in lieu of separate product registrations for custom blends.  This license only applies to grades specifically requested by the consumer prior to blending.  The custom blender will need to document this request, mix only the amount requested and report this tonnage semi-annually.   All pre-packaged and other types of specialty use fertilizers and soil conditioners will continue to be registered. 
• Fees.  Licensing, registration and inspection (tonnage) fees were not increased.  However, there is a change in inspection (tonnage) late fees.  Starting with the Jan-June 2007 report, the late fee will now be $50 or 10% of amount due, whichever is greater, regardless of the amount owed.  Payments due that are less than $5 are waived and refunds less than $5 will not be processed unless requested in writing.

If you need additional information or have any questions, please feel free to visit the Michigan Department of Agriculture website at www.michigan.gov/mda-fertilizer or contact April Hunt at (517) 241-2979, hunta9@michigan.gov.