Commercial Licensing & Registration
 The department licenses individuals and businesses that sell pesticides, fertilizers, feed, nursery stock, produce and seed, as well as those seeking to apply pesticides for commercial, non-commercial, governmental and special utility entities. Fees from these licenses support programs to protect producers, consumers, industry and the environment. |
Contacts Fees Apiary Feed Dealer Feed Product Registration Fertilizer Dealer Fertilizer Product Registration Inspection Fees Nursery Licenses Pesticide Applicator and Dealer Pesticide Product Registration Produce Registration Seed Dealer |
Licensing
Feed
All commercial feed distributors, feed manufactures and those whose name appears on the label of a commercial feed as guarantor, must obtain a license before conducting business in or into Montana. Each place of business, manufacturing facility, distribution point or point of invoicing must have a license. Annual licensing must be obtained before January 1st of each year.
Fees
Registrations
Inspection
Contacts
Feed Program
Feed Dealer Application Form
Fertilizer
All commercial fertilizer or soil amendment retailers and distributors must obtain a Fertilizer/Soil Amendment Dealer License before conducting business in or into Montana. Dealers who sell exclusively un-manipulated animal or vegetable manures, or specialty fertilizer (packaged for non-farm use) do not need a Fertilizer/soil Amendment Dealers License. Each facility, distributing or handling commercial fertilizers or soil amendments in this state must have a license. Licensing must be obtained before January 1st of each year.
Fees
Registration
Inspection Fees
Contacts
Fertilizer Program
Fertilizer Dealer Application Form
Pesticide
Pesticide Dealers: A person who sells, offers for sale, delivers, or has delivered within the state a pesticide, must first obtain an annual license from the department. Annual renewal is January 1st of each year. A separate dealer's license and fee is required for each location or outlet from which pesticides are distributed, sold, held for sale, or offered for sale. To obtain this license a person must pass an examination, complete an application form and submit licensing fees to the department.
Pesticide licensing instructions and training manuals
Initial Pesticide Training Information
Pesticide Applicators
Commercial, Non-Commercial and Public Utility applicators: A person who engages in the business of applying pesticides for another person must obtain a pesticide applicator's license from the department. Applicator licenses are renewed annually on January 1st of each year. A commercial applicator is a person who by contract or for hire applies by aerial, ground, or hand equipment pesticide to land, plants, seed, animals, waters, structures, or vehicles. A public utility applicator is a person applying pesticides to land and structures owned or leased by a public utility. To obtain this license a person must pass examinations, meet liability requirements, complete an application form and submit licensing fee to the department.
Government applicators: All state agencies, municipal corporations, or any other government agencies are subject to the same examination, completed application form and licensing fee requirement as the commercial and public utility applicators.
For more information on how to become licensed and where to obtain training materials, go to Pesticide Licensing and Training Manuals.
Initial Pesticide Training Information
Farm applicators: A person must be certified to use restricted use pesticides or supervise the use of these products for the purposes of producing any agricultural commodity on lands owned, rented, or leased by him or his employer. To obtain this license a person must pass an examination administered at a local MSU county extension office, complete an application form and submit licensing fees to the department. This license is effective for 5 calendar years.
To locate an agent go to MSU County Extension Locations and select a county.
Fees
MSU training information
Pesticide Dealers
Commercial and Government Applicators
Private (Farm) Applicators
Recertification of pesticide licensing categories
Commercial and government applicators and dealers will need to re-certify your applicator/dealer category(ies) every 4 years. This can be done in one of two ways; 1)Re-examination. Re-examination can be done in the last year of certification, but must be done before a license will be issued the following licensing year. 2)Re-certification by training. Re-certification by training must be done by obtaining 12 credit hours of training in the four year re-certification period. This can be done through department training or department pre-approved training courses.
Approved Training Courses
Guidelines for Training Classes
Contacts
Produce
A produce dealer license is required for any person who wholesales produce in the state, transports produce from out of state into this state for retail sales, or retails produce grown by the produce dealer in this state when gross retail sales exceed $15,000 annually. A separate license is required for each place of business, including vehicles. Licenses are issued annually and are renewed by January 1st of each year.
Seed
All facilities located in the state that condition agricultural seed shall obtain a license from the department for each facility. However, a seed grower, when conditioning only seed from that grower's own production is not required to be licensed.
Nursery Licenses
Any business or location where nursery stock is grown or offered for sale, resale, or as part of a landscape business is required to have a nursery license. Nursery licenses are issued on a yearly basis, on an anniversary date chosen by the nursery owner. Licenses are issued by the Montana Department of Revenue, One-Stop Licensing, to individuals or companies selling or distributing nursery plants in or into Montana.
Inspection Costs:
$20.00 per hour, per diem, mileage, and actual costs for requested
inspections, surveys, or removal of infested stock.
Registration
Feed
Manufacturers of Pet Foods and Specialty Pet Foods must Register all products by January 1st of each year. Product labels are subject to review upon request by the department. Other commercial feeds are not required to be registered but manufacturers must obtain a Feed License.
Fees
Licensing
Inspection
Contacts
Feed Program
Feed Registration Application Form
Fertilizer
Manufacturers of commercial fertilizer, soil amendment, or specialty fertilizer must register all products by January 1st of each year. Product labels are required at the time of registration. Any fertilizer or soil amendment that contains a waste or sewage sludge distributed as a single ingredient product or blended with other ingredients must be identified at the time of registration. The registrant of a fertilizer or soil amendment containing waste or a hazardous waste-derived fertilizer or soil amendment, shall state in the application the source of the waste and the level of metals in the end product including, but not limited to, arsenic, cadmium, and lead.
Fees
Licensing
Inspection
Contacts
Fertilizer Program
Fertilizer Registration Application Form
Registration Form for Products Containing Wastes
Pesticide
The Montana Pesticide Act requires that any pesticide sold, distributed, offered for sale, purchased, given away, used or applied in the state must be registered with the department. The department will accept for registration any pesticide registered with the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Pesticide registrations must be renewed annually by January 1 of each year. Copies of the EPA approved label and Material Safety Data Sheets must be submitted with the registration application. The department does accept electronic versions of labels.
The department does not require registration of Exempt Pesticide Products under FIFRA Section 25(b), but a copy of the label needs to be submitted to us for our files.
Contacts
Fees
FIFRA 25(b) Minimum Risk Products
Pesticide Registration Application
Search for Existing Registrations
Special Pesticide Registrations - Section 18 and 24(c)
Inspection Fees
Feed Annual Inspection Fee
Manufactures of commercial feeds other than pet food and specialty pet foods must report by January 31st of each year an annual statement setting forth the number of tons of commercial feeds distributed in this state during the preceding calendar year.
Fees
Licensing
Registration
Contacts
Feed Program
Feed Tonnage Report Form (Word format)
Monthly Fertilizer Tonnage Reporting
Every manufacturer who registers a soil amendment or commercial fertilizer in this state, or a person who registers on the manufacturers behalf, except specialty fertilizer and unmanipulated manures, shall file with the department on forms furnished or approved by the department a monthly statement setting forth the number of net tons of each registered commercial fertilizer and soil amendment distributed in this state during the month and to whom it was distributed. The report is due on or before the 30th day of the following month.
Fees
Licensing
Registration
Contacts
Fertilizer Program
Fertilizer Monthly Tonnage Report
Fertilizer Semi-annual Reporting
Every person who distributes commercial fertilizers and/or soil amendments except specialty fertilizers in packages of 10 pounds or less and un-manipulated manures shall file with the department semiannual reports setting forth the number of net tons of each commercial fertilizer and/or soil amendment distributed in this state during the 6 month period. The reports shall be filed on/or before the 30th calendar day of the month following the close of each 6 month period. No fees are required.
Licensing
Registration
Contacts
Fertilizer 6 month tonnage report form
Produce Quarterly Assessment Report
Produce sold or distributed in the state must be reported and must be assessed a fee per produce unit or equivalent poundage. The produce dealer who first distributes produce in this state or a grower who retails Montana-grown produce with gross annual sales exceeding $15,000 shall pay the produce assessment fee. The report and fees are due on or before the 30th day of the month following each calendar quarter.
Fees
Licensing
Contacts
Produce Program
Quarterly Assessment Report Form
Seed Annual Inspection Fee
Seed labelers located outside Montana who sell agricultural seed in Montana shall report those sales and pay an assessment fee per $100 gross annual sales of agricultural seed. These assessments are due to the department 30 days after the licensing period ending.
Fees
Licensing
Contacts
Seed Program
Out-of-state Seed Labelers
