California Fertilizer Registration: Requirements, Fees, and Renewal

To sell a fertilizing material in California, you must meet the California fertilizer registration requirements and fees set by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA): hold a current fertilizing materials license, register each product label with CDFA before distribution, and pay both the registration fee and ongoing mill assessments on your California sales. Conventional product registration runs $200 per label for a new registration and $100 to renew; organic input material registration is $1,000 per label whether new or renewing. Registrations now run on a four-year cycle.1California Department of Food and Agriculture. New Four-Year Product Registration Cycle

Which Products Have to Be Registered

Five categories of fertilizing materials must be registered before they can be distributed in California:2Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 3 Section 2320 – Registration

  • Specialty fertilizers, meaning packaged commercial fertilizers labeled for home gardens, lawns, flowers, and similar noncommercial uses.3California Legislative Information. California Code FAC 14563 – Specialty Fertilizer
  • Packaged agricultural minerals.
  • Auxiliary soil and plant substances.
  • Packaged soil amendments.
  • Organic input materials, which follow a separate and more rigorous track.

A “commercial fertilizer” is any product containing 5 percent or more of nitrogen, available phosphoric acid, or soluble potash distributed for promoting plant growth.4California Department of Food and Agriculture. Food and Agricultural Code Chapter 5 Fertilizing Materials Commercial fertilizers sold in bulk for agricultural or professional use do not need to be registered. Once the same material is packaged and labeled for consumer use, it becomes a specialty fertilizer and does need to be registered.

Get the Fertilizing Materials License First

Registration cannot move forward without a current fertilizing materials license. Any person or firm whose name appears on a product label as the manufacturer or distributor must hold this license before submitting a registration application.5Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 3 Section 2320.2 – Registration Application for Organic Input Material Product Label The license is issued under Food and Agricultural Code Section 14591 and applies to the firm, not to individual products. Out-of-state distributors shipping into California need the California license too, before registering anything.

Conventional Product Registration: What to File

For non-organic products, applicants file the Conventional Fertilizing Material Label Registration Application, form 513-023, with CDFA.6California Department of Food and Agriculture. Conventional Fertilizing Material Label Registration Application The form asks for the product name, brand name, and the licensee’s name and address exactly as they appear on the fertilizing materials license.

The core of the application is the guaranteed analysis. You commit to the minimum percentage of total nitrogen, available phosphoric acid, and soluble potash, plus any secondary nutrients or micronutrients claimed on the label. The format and order are set by California Code of Regulations Section 2303.7Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 3 Section 2303 – Labeling Requirements A derivation statement identifying the chemical sources of each guaranteed nutrient must accompany it.

The application package also requires:6California Department of Food and Agriculture. Conventional Fertilizing Material Label Registration Application

  • Heavy metal analysis data showing levels of arsenic, cadmium, and lead.
  • Microbial laboratory analysis, if the label guarantees microbes, including the testing method.
  • Total carbon analysis, if biochar is guaranteed on the label.
  • One 8½ × 11 inch copy of the final product label.

You can submit through CDFA’s ExtraView database at inspect.cdfa.ca.gov, or mail the application with a check payable to CDFA-419.8California Department of Food and Agriculture. Fertilizing Materials Inspection Program

Organic Input Material Registration

Products intended for certified organic production go through a separate, more demanding track. Organic input materials must comply with the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) standards, and CDFA independently verifies that compliance before registering the product.5Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 3 Section 2320.2 – Registration Application for Organic Input Material Product Label

Beyond the information required for conventional products, the organic application demands:

  • The complete product formula, active and inert, including the name, source, and function of every substance added during manufacturing. That covers feedstocks, growth media, extractants, solvents, chelating agents, stabilizers, and any other additive.
  • A full manufacturing process description with ingredient amounts, the sequence and duration of each step, temperature changes, and measures taken to prevent contamination with NOP-prohibited substances.
  • A signed method and ingredient declaration confirming the product is not produced using excluded methods such as genetic modification, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge.
  • A signed compliance declaration agreeing to follow all CDFA organic input material rules.

Liquid fertilizers with a nitrogen analysis above 3 percent face an additional federal step. They must be approved by a material evaluation program, such as an NOP-accredited certifying agent or the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), before use in organic production. That approval involves annual onsite audits and unannounced inspections of the manufacturer’s facility.9Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA). Approval of Liquid Fertilizers for Use in Organic Production

Fees and the Four-Year Cycle

In August 2024, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 1522, extending the product registration period from two years to four. The new cycle took effect January 1, 2025.1California Department of Food and Agriculture. New Four-Year Product Registration Cycle Fees per product label for the four-year cycle are:

  • New conventional registration: $200.
  • Conventional renewal: $100.
  • New organic input material registration: $1,000.
  • Organic input material renewal: $1,000.

CDFA is phasing firms into the four-year cycle in groups based on the first letter of the firm name. Group 3, firms starting with D through I, transitioned first in January 2025. The remaining groups follow as CDFA completes its rulemaking, with updated notices issued to affected firms.1California Department of Food and Agriculture. New Four-Year Product Registration Cycle Late renewals draw a penalty, so watch your group’s window. Notices go up on the Fertilizing Materials Inspection Program page as each group’s transition date approaches.8California Department of Food and Agriculture. Fertilizing Materials Inspection Program

Mill Assessments on California Sales

Registration fees are not the end of the cost. Every licensee whose name appears on a fertilizer label pays ongoing assessments based on California sales, calculated per dollar of sales rather than per unit.

The inspection program assessment can reach up to two mills ($0.002) per dollar of sales for all fertilizing materials. CDFA may impose an additional assessment of up to one mill ($0.001) per dollar of sales for the Fertilizer Research and Education Program.10California Legislative Information. California Food and Agricultural Code – Article 6 A company with $1 million in California fertilizer sales would owe up to $2,000 for the inspection program and up to $1,000 for the research program. Assessments are reported and paid quarterly through CDFA’s ExtraView database.

When a Change Triggers a New Registration

A registered product does not keep its registration through every product change. If you alter the guaranteed analysis, change the derivation statement, or make any modification that implies a different product, you must file a new registration; a renewal will not cover it.11Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 3 Section 2320.1 – Fertilizing Material Product Labels Submitted for Registration Tweaking a micronutrient percentage, switching iron sources, or rebranding can each trigger a fresh $200 application, or $1,000 for organic input materials, and a new CDFA review.

Penalties for Selling Unregistered or Mislabeled Product

CDFA collects samples of fertilizing materials sold in California and tests them against label claims. Under Food and Agricultural Code Section 14647, the agency issues a report showing whether the product met its guaranteed analysis. The law authorizes tolerances that account for normal variation, so minor discrepancies do not automatically result in a violation.12California Legislative Information. California Code FAC 14647 – Inspection, Sampling, and Analysis

Products that fail inspection face real consequences. CDFA can seize and place a hold order on any lot it has reasonable cause to believe violates the law. The held product cannot be moved or distributed until CDFA releases it after the violation is corrected or orders it destroyed.4California Department of Food and Agriculture. Food and Agricultural Code Chapter 5 Fertilizing Materials

Penalties escalate by type and frequency of violation:

  • Selling an unregistered product: a warning and 30 days to comply for the first violation, $500 for the second, and $1,000 for each subsequent violation.
  • Misbranding: $1,000 for the first violation, $2,500 for the second, and $5,000 for each additional violation. Violations involving fraud, willful misconduct, or threats to public safety start at $5,000.
  • Adulteration: up to $5,000 for a first unknowing violation, up to $15,000 for subsequent unknowing violations, and a minimum of $15,000 for any knowing violation. Adulteration is a misdemeanor under California law.
  • General administrative penalties: up to $5,000 per violation for any breach of the fertilizer chapter, based on seriousness and impact on consumers.

Anyone found to have adulterated a product or violated organic input material rules can also be barred from obtaining a fertilizing materials license for three years.4California Department of Food and Agriculture. Food and Agricultural Code Chapter 5 Fertilizing Materials

If Your Product Contains a Pesticide, Federal Registration Also Applies

CDFA registration covers the fertilizer. If your product contains any pesticide ingredient, federal law adds a separate requirement. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, no person may distribute or sell a pesticide in any state unless it is registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Adding a pesticide component to a fertilizer pulls the whole product into EPA review.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 7 USC 136a – Registration of Pesticides

One narrow exception: mixtures of registered nitrogen stabilizers and fertilizer products are exempt from EPA registration if the mixture carries the nitrogen stabilizer’s required labeling and is blended according to that labeling. Every other fertilizer-pesticide combination needs both CDFA registration for the fertilizer and EPA registration for the pesticide.