, 

February 20, 1975 

The Honorable Marvin F. Marshall 

County Attorney 

County of Hale 

Plainview. Texas 

Dear Mr. Marshall: 

Opinion No. H- 536 

Re: Whether cattle manure is 

an “agricultural product 

in its natural state” within 

article 6701d-11, section 3a, 

V. T. C. S. 

Your opinion request concerns article 6701d-11. section 3a, V. T. C. S. 

This statute imposes restrictions on the manner in which loose material 

may be loaded and transported in a truck or other vehicle. Its purpose 

is to prohibit loose material from being loaded and transported in such a 

manner as would allow the material to blow or spill from the vehicle onto 

the highways because of movement or wind. Attorney General Opinion 

M-1025 (1971). Loose material is defined in section 3a(b) of article 6701d-11: 

As used in this section, ‘loose material’ means dirt, 

sand, gravel, wood chips, or other material that is 

capable of blowing or spilling from a vehicle as a 

result of movement or exposure to air, wind currents, 

or weather, but shall not include agricultural, products 

in their naturai~ state. 

Since cattle manure is material that is capable of blowing or spilling 

from a vehicle as a result of movement or exposure to air, wind currents 

or weather, you ask whether cattle manure would qualify as an agricultural 

product so as to be excepted from the restrictions imposed by article 6701d-11. 

No definition of “agricultural product ” is set out in article 6701d-11. 

In most jurisdictions the term is defined broadly, e.g. : 

The common parlance of the country and the common 

practice of the country have~‘beeh tolcbnsider alli.those 

.things as’,farmihg ~p,roducts ,oi~ agricultural products 

p. 2415 
The Honorable Marvin F. Marshall page 2 (H-536) 

which have the situs of their production upon 

the farm, or which are brought into condition 

for the uses of society by the labor of those 

engaged in agricultural pursuits, in contradistinction from manufacturing or other pursuits. 

The product of the dairy and the product of the 

poultry yard, while it does not come directly out 

of the soil, is necessarily connected with the soil 

and those who are engaged in the culture of the 

soil. District of Columbia v. Oyster, 15 D. C. 

285, 286, 54 Am.. Rep. 275 (1885). 

Likewise, 

The term ‘agriculture’ is broader in meaning 

than ‘farming, ’ and while it includes the preparation of soil, the planting of seeds, the 

raising and harvesting of crops and all their 

incidents, it also includes dairying. In Re 

Rodgers, 134 Neb. 832, 279 N. W. 800, 

(1938). 

See also Kimball v. Blanchard, 90 N.H. 298, 7 A. 2d 394, 396 (1939); 

State Ex Rel Wisconsin Allied Truck Owners’ Association v. Commission, 

207 Wig. 664, 242 N. W. 668 (1932); Northern Cedar Co. v. French; 131 

Wash. 394, 230 P. 837, 846 (1924); Attorney General Opinion H-272 (1974). 

In Texas the terms “agriculture” or “agricultural product” have 

usually been used in their broadest sense. For instance in article 5738, 

V. T. C. S., the Texas Legislature has defined the term “agricultural 

product” so as to include “horticultural, viticultural, forestry, dairy, 

livestock, poultry, bee, and any farm and ranch products. ” In Attorney 

General Opinion M-187 (1968), offal and similar waste from the slaughter 

of animals were deemed to be agricultural products.~ See also Brewer v. 

Central Greenhouse Corp., 352 S. W. 2d 101 (Tex. Sup. 1962) and Gordon v. 

Buster, 257 S. W. 220 (1923). 

p. 2416 
I 

The Honorable Marvin F. Marshall, page 3 (H-536) 

Livestock manure, though not from the soil, is produced incidentally 

to cattle raising and we believe our courts would probably construe it 

to be within the term “agricultural product” as broadly defined by the 

Legislature. Therefore, absent a clear declaration of the Legislature 

to the contrary, we do not feel authorized to rule that it cannot be,.loa-ded 

and transported in its natural state without bking subject to the restrictions 

imposed by article 6701d-11, section, 3a. 

SUMMARY 

Cattle manure would probably be held by our 

Courts to come within the term “agricultural product” 

under the broad definition given that term by the Texas 

Legislature and amdingly, absent a clear legislatiee 

declaration to the contrary, is within the meaning of 

article 6701d-11, section 3a and can be loaded and transported in its natural state without being subject to the 

restrictions imposed by that article. 

Very truly yours, 

L. HILL 

orney General of Texas 

APPROVED: 

DAVID $I. KENDALL, First Assistant 

Opinion Committee 

p. 2417