(a) Except as otherwise provided in Section 52454, each container of agricultural seed that is for sale or sold within this state for sowing purposes shall bear upon it or have attached to it in a conspicuous place a plainly written or printed label or tag in the English language that includes all of the following information:
(1) The commonly accepted name of the kind, kind and variety, or kind and type of each agricultural seed component in excess of 5 percent of the whole, and the percentage by weight of each. If the aggregate of agricultural seed components, each present in an amount not exceeding 5 percent of the whole, exceeds 10 percent of the whole, each component in excess of 1 percent of the whole shall be named together with the percentage by weight of each. If more than one component is required to be named, the names of all components shall be shown in letters of the same type and size.
(2) The lot number or other lot identification.
(3) The percentage by weight of all weed seeds.
(4) The name and approximate number of each kind of restricted noxious weed seed per pound.
(5) The percentage by weight of any agricultural seed except that which is required to be named on the label.
(6) The percentage by weight of inert matter. If a percentage by weight is required to be shown by any provision of this section, that percentage shall be exclusive of any substance that is added to the seed as a coating and shown on the label as such.
(7) For each agricultural seed in excess of 5 percent of the whole, stated in accordance with paragraph (1), the percentage of germination exclusive of hard seed, the percentage of hard seed, if present, and the calendar month and year the test was completed to determine the percentages. Following the statement of those percentages, the additional statement “total germination and hard seed” may be stated.
(8) The name and address of the person who labeled the seed or of the person who sells the seed within this state.
(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply in the following instances:
(1) The sale is an occasional sale of seed grain by the producer of the seed grain to their neighbor for use by the purchaser within the county of production.
(2) Any cannabis seed, as defined in Section 26001 of the Business and Professions Code, sold or offered for sale in the state.
(c) All determinations of noxious weed seeds are subject to tolerances and methods of determination prescribed in the regulations that are adopted pursuant to this chapter.
(d) For purposes of this section, “neighbor” means a person who lives in close proximity, not to exceed three miles, to another.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 70, Sec. 100. (AB 141) Effective July 12, 2021.)