The Texas Agriculture Code is the body of state law that governs how agricultural products are grown, processed, sold, and transported in Texas, and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is the main agency that enforces it. The Code reaches family farms, feedlots, nurseries, hemp growers, grocery store scales, and gas pumps, and TDA can impose administrative penalties of up to $5,000 per violation per day for most offenses.1State of Texas. Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 12 – Department of Agriculture If you own livestock, apply pesticides, sell seed, grow hemp, or run any device that prices goods by weight or volume, some part of this Code applies to you.
What the Code Covers
The Code is organized into titles and chapters that each handle a distinct piece of the agricultural economy. The ones most owners and operators run into are:
- Livestock marks, brands, estrays, and animal disease control
- Pesticide applicator licensing and use
- Seed labeling, nursery registration, and noxious plant control
- Industrial hemp cultivation
- Commercial weights and measures
- Right-to-farm protection against nuisance suits
- Organic certification through TDA as a USDA-accredited agent
- Administrative enforcement, hearings, and appeals
Each one carries its own licensing, recordkeeping, and penalty structure. The sections below cover what you have to do under each.
Livestock Rules: Brands, Estrays, and Disease
Title 6 governs livestock, including cattle, horses, sheep, goats, hogs, and domestic fowl.
Brand and Mark Registration
Every livestock owner in Texas has to register brands, earmarks, tattoos, or other identification with the county clerk in the county where the animals are kept. Registration expires every ten years and must be re-recorded. The next statewide re-recording deadline falls six months after September 1, 2031. Miss it, and your older records lose their legal force, which can leave you without proof of ownership in a theft case or boundary dispute.2State of Texas. Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 144 – Marks and Brands
When livestock wander onto a road or someone else’s property without permission, Chapter 142 treats them as “estrays.” The local sheriff generally takes custody, and an owner who fails to reclaim the animal within the statutory window can lose ownership.
Disease Control and Quarantine
Chapter 161 gives the Texas Animal Health Commission authority to quarantine regions, restrict animal movement, and order testing or treatment when diseases like brucellosis or tuberculosis appear. Moving livestock across state lines or through restricted zones generally requires a health certificate from an accredited veterinarian.3State of Texas. Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 161 – General Disease and Pest Control
Violating movement restrictions or failing to report a known disease is a Class C misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500. A prior conviction under the same section bumps the charge to a Class B misdemeanor, which carries up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
Electronic Eartags for Interstate Cattle
As of November 5, 2024, a federal rule requires any official eartag applied to cattle or bison for interstate movement to be readable both visually and electronically.4Federal Register. Use of Electronic Identification Eartags as Official Identification in Cattle and Bison Visual-only tags applied before that date stay valid for the life of the animal. The rule does not mandate a specific technology like RFID, and animals already exempt from identification (such as beef feeder cattle under 18 months going directly to slaughter) remain exempt.
Poultry Registration
Anyone who sells, distributes, or transports live domestic or exotic fowl in Texas must register with the Texas Animal Health Commission, pay an annual fee, and list every location where those activities take place. A veterinarian, diagnostic lab, or anyone else with custody of poultry who diagnoses a reportable disease must notify the commission within 24 hours. During avian influenza outbreaks, a single unreported flock can trigger quarantines across a region.
Pesticide Licensing and Recordkeeping
Chapter 76 regulates how pesticides and herbicides are sold, stored, applied, and disposed of. TDA runs the applicator licensing program and recognizes four main license types:5Texas Department of Agriculture. Types of Agricultural Licenses
- Private applicator, for a person applying restricted-use, state-limited-use, or regulated herbicide products to produce agricultural commodities on land they own, rent, or control
- Commercial applicator, for someone operating or working for a business that applies restricted-use products on another person’s property for hire
- Noncommercial applicator, for a person who uses restricted-use products only on their employer’s property and does not solicit pest control business
- Noncommercial political subdivision applicator, for an employee of a local government or federal agency applying restricted-use products in the course of their duties
Employers who hire workers to handle pesticides also have to comply with the federal Worker Protection Standard under 40 CFR Part 170. Handlers must receive safety training at least once every 12 months before doing any pesticide-related work, and the employer has to provide personal protective equipment matching the product label.6eCFR. 40 CFR Part 170 – Worker Protection Standard Training has to cover label interpretation, exposure hazards, emergency decontamination, and heat-related illness prevention. Keep training records for at least two years.
Federal law also requires applicators to keep records of every restricted-use pesticide application for at least two years. The record has to be completed within 14 days of the application and must include nine data points: the product name, EPA registration number, amount applied, date, location, target crop or site, area treated, and the certified applicator’s name and certification number.7Agricultural Marketing Service. Pesticide Record Keeping No specific federal form is required, but incomplete records can draw enforcement at the state and federal level.
Seed, Nursery, and Invasive Plant Rules
Title 5 protects the state’s plant resources. Chapter 62 requires that all agricultural seeds sold in Texas carry labels disclosing germination rates, purity percentages, and the presence of noxious weed seeds.8Texas Department of Agriculture. Seed Law TDA samples seed on the market, and lots that fail labeling standards face stop-sale orders until they are reconditioned or relabeled.
Chapter 71 prohibits selling or offering nursery or floral items without a valid registration certificate from TDA. Shipments of nursery stock leaving the state must also carry a certificate of inspection when the destination requires it. TDA inspects each nursery, greenhouse, orchard, and florist operation at least once every three years.9State of Texas. Texas Agriculture Code 71.044 – Inspection Violating nursery or plant pest rules carries a civil penalty of $50 to $1,000 per violation, with each day of continued noncompliance counted as a separate violation, and TDA can also seek an injunction.10State of Texas. Texas Agriculture Code 71.059 – Civil Penalty and Injunction
Selling, distributing, or importing any species on TDA’s official noxious and invasive plant list is a Class C misdemeanor, and each individual plant counts as a separate offense. One shipment of prohibited plants can generate dozens of charges.
Industrial Hemp Licensing
Chapter 122 sets the state’s hemp production framework. Hemp is legally distinct from marijuana because it contains no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight, but the licensing is tighter than most new growers expect.
To get a hemp grower’s license you have to submit GPS coordinates for the perimeter of every location where you plan to grow or handle hemp. You also have to give written consent allowing TDA, the Department of Public Safety, and any local law enforcement agency to enter the premises for inspection at any time.11State of Texas. Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 122 – Cultivation of Hemp Falsifying any part of the application disqualifies you.
Criminal history is the biggest disqualifier. A felony conviction related to a controlled substance under federal or state law makes you ineligible for a hemp grower’s license for 10 years from the date of conviction. A current license holder who picks up a felony controlled substance conviction has their license revoked. The rule applies to individuals and to any governing person of a business entity holding the license.
Weights and Measures for Businesses
Chapter 13 regulates every commercial weighing or measuring device used to price goods in Texas. That includes retail fuel pumps, grocery scales, deli counters, and anything else where weight, measure, or count sets the price. Each device has to be registered before use in a commercial transaction, and inspectors check calibration. A device that fails inspection gets a rejected tag and cannot be used until a licensed technician repairs and recalibrates it.12State of Texas. Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 13 – Weights and Measures
Packages sold in Texas must clearly state the net weight or volume of their contents and provide accurate manufacturer or distributor information. TDA can set standard-fill requirements for packaged commodities. Businesses that issue official weight certificates have to hold a certificate of authority from TDA and post a bond that covers the accuracy of certificates and the protection of commodities in their custody.
Right-to-Farm Protection Against Nuisance Suits
Chapter 251 shields established agricultural operations from nuisance lawsuits, and it is one of the stronger right-to-farm statutes in the country. If your operation has been running in substantially the same form for at least one year, no one can sue you for nuisance or seek an injunction based on odor, noise, dust, or similar complaints.13State of Texas. Texas Agriculture Code Chapter 251 – Effect of Nuisance Actions on Agricultural Operations
A plaintiff who files a nuisance suit against a qualifying operation anyway is liable for the operator’s full defense costs, including attorney’s fees, court costs, travel, and related expenses. That fee-shifting rule discourages suits from new subdivisions that move in next to an existing operation and then complain about the smell.
The protection has limits. A substantial change to the operation resets the one-year clock, so switching from hay production to a large-scale hog confinement facility means waiting another year before the shield applies. The statute also offers no protection to operations that violate any applicable federal, state, or local law. Separately, agricultural improvements like barns, pens, fences, and arenas cannot be treated as a nuisance if their construction was not prohibited by any law in effect when they were built.
Organic Certification Through TDA
Texas producers who want to label products as organic have to be certified under the USDA’s National Organic Program. TDA operates as a USDA-accredited certifying agent for that purpose. The requirement that catches most new growers off guard is the three-year transition: the land cannot have been treated with synthetic substances, genetically modified organisms, sewage sludge, or ionizing radiation for at least three years before crops harvested from it qualify as organic.14Agricultural Marketing Service. Organic Transitioning Fallow or pasture land may qualify sooner if you can document that three years have already passed since the last prohibited application. You cannot certify crops retroactively after harvest, so the timing has to be worked out before planting.
Penalties, Hearings, and Appeals
TDA enforces compliance across all of these programs through Chapter 12. Its tools include facility inspections, record reviews, product sampling, and subpoenas to compel evidence or testimony.
Administrative penalties for most violations cap at $5,000 per violation, and each day a violation continues can be counted as a separate offense. Chapter 14 violations, which deal with the handling and marketing of certain agricultural products, carry a higher cap of $10,000 per violation per day. TDA can impose these penalties without going to criminal court. For serious or ongoing violations, TDA works with the Attorney General’s office to seek civil injunctions in state district court, which can force a business to halt illegal activity or shut down until it complies.
Criminal penalties for specific violations are prosecuted through local district or county attorneys and vary by chapter. Most criminal offenses under the Code start as Class C misdemeanors with a fine up to $500 and escalate to Class B misdemeanors on a subsequent conviction, which carries up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
When TDA initiates an enforcement action, the accused party has the right to a formal administrative hearing before an impartial officer. The hearing follows contested-case procedures under the Texas Administrative Procedure Act, so both sides can present evidence, call witnesses, and make legal arguments. If you disagree with the final order, you can file a petition for judicial review in a Travis County district court within 30 days of the date the order becomes final and appealable. Filing the petition does not automatically pause enforcement of the order, so you may need to ask the court for a stay to keep penalties from accruing while the appeal is pending.