Legislation

* § 292. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following
terms shall have the following meanings:

1. "Agricultural commodity" means any and all agricultural,
horticultural, vineyard products, corn for grain, oats, soybeans,
barley, wheat, poultry or poultry products, bees, maple sap and pure
maple products produced therefrom, Christmas trees, livestock, including
swine, and honey, sold in the state either in their natural state or as
processed by the producer thereof but does not include milk, timber or
timber products, other than Christmas trees, all hay, rye and legumes
except for soybeans.

2. "Aquaculture" means the culture, cultivation and harvest of aquatic
plants and animals.

3. "Aquatic products" means any food or fiber products obtained
through the practice of aquaculture, including mariculture; or by
harvest from the sea when such products are cultured or landed in New
York state. Such products include but are not limited to fish,
shellfish, seaweed, or other water-based plant life.

4. "Producer" means any person engaged within this state in the
business of producing, or causing to be produced for any market, any
agricultural commodity or aquatic product.

5. "Handler" means any person engaged in the operation of packing,
grading, selling, offering for sale, or marketing any marketable
agricultural commodities or aquatic products, who as owner, agent or
otherwise ships or causes an agricultural commodity to be shipped.

6. "Processor" means any person engaged within this state in
processing, or in the operation of receiving, grading, packing, canning,
freezing, dehydrating, fermenting, distilling, extracting, preserving,
grinding, crushing, or in any other way preserving or changing the form
of an agricultural product or aquatic product for the purpose of
marketing such commodity but shall not include a person engaged in
manufacturing from an agricultural commodity or aquatic product another
and different product.

7. "Distributor" means any person engaged within this state, in
selling, offering for sale, marketing or distributing an agricultural
commodity or aquatic product which they have purchased or acquired from
a producer or other person or which they are marketing on behalf of a
producer or other person, whether as owner, agent, employee, broker or
otherwise, but shall not include a retailer, except such retailer who
purchases or acquires from, or handles on behalf of any producer or
other person, an agricultural commodity or aquatic product subject to
regulation by the marketing agreement or order covering such commodity.

8. "Marketing agreement" means an agreement entered into, with the
approval of the commissioner, by producers with distributors, processors
and handlers regulating the preparation, sale and handling of
agricultural commodities or aquatic products.

9. "Marketing order" means an order issued by the commissioner
pursuant to this article, prescribing rules and regulations governing
the marketing for processing, the distributing, the sale of, or the
handling in any manner of any agricultural commodity or aquatic product
sold in this state during any specified period or periods.

* NB Effective July 1, 2026