2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 35 - AGRICULTURE (§§ 35-1-101 — 35-81-102) › AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS - STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS (§§ 35-23-101 — 35-27.5-108) › Article 27 - COLORADO SEED ACT (§§ 35-27-101 — 35-27-125) › Section 35-27-103 - Definitions

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)
"Advertisement" means all representations commercial and otherwise, other than labeling, disseminated in any manner or by any means by the seller of seed as such representations relate to such seed.
(2)
"Bean" means all species of genus phaseolus, vigna, and cicer.
(3)
"Certified seed" means seed certified by a seed certifying agency pursuant to this article and includes foundation and registered seed.
(4)
"Certifying agency" means the seed certification service of the Colorado state university authorized by the board of governors of the Colorado state university system or the authorized seed certifying agency of another state.
(5)
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of agriculture.
(6)
"Conditioning" means drying, cleaning, scarifying, sizing, or any other operation which could change the purity or germination of seed.
(7)
"Custom seed conditioner" means any person in Colorado who engages in the business of conditioning seed by either a stationary or portable seed cleaner, if ownership of such seed is retained by the customer.
(8)
"Department" means the department of agriculture.
(9)
"Disease of beans" means a bacterial, viral, or fungal disease of beans. The term includes any of the following diseases and any variations or new strains of the following diseases which are recognized as pathogenic or a potential threat to seed bean production:
(a)
Anthracnose (collectotrichum lindemuthianum);
(b)
Bean bacterial wilt (corynebacterium flaccumfaciens ssp. flaccumfaciens);
(c)
Strains of brown spot (pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae);
(d)
Common bean blight (xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli);
(e)
Halo blight (pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola); and
(f)
BCMV (bean common mosaic virus).
(9.5)
"Dormant seeds" means viable seeds, other than hard seeds, that fail to germinate when provided the specific germination conditions for the kind of seed in question.
(10)
"Farmer seed labeler" means any person who labels only seed produced for sale on property owned or rented by such person or such person's employer in Colorado.
(11)
"Germination" means the emergence and development from the seed embryo of those essential structures that, for the kind of seed in question, are indicative of the ability to produce a normal plant under favorable conditions.
(11.5)
"Hard seeds" means seeds that remain hard at the end of the prescribed test period because they have not absorbed water due to an impermeable seed coat.
(12)
"Inert matter" means matter which is not seed, including broken seed, sterile florets, chaff, fungus bodies, and stones, as defined by the commissioner.
(13)
"Kind" means one or more related species or subspecies which singly or collectively are known by one common name, including corn, oats, alfalfa, timothy, and western wheatgrass.
(14)
"Labeling" means all labels, tags, and other written, printed, or graphic representations, in any form, accompanying and pertaining to specific seed whether in bulk or in containers and includes invoices; except that labeling does not include advertisements as defined in this section.
(15)
"Lot" means a definite quantity of seed identified by a lot number or other mark. Every portion or bag of any such lot shall be uniform within recognized tolerances for the factors which appear in the labeling of such lot.
(16)
"Noxious weed seed" means the seed produced from plants which are especially troublesome and detrimental and which may cause damage or loss to a considerable portion of the land or livestock of a community. Noxious weed seed are divided into two classes: "prohibited noxious weed seed" and "restricted noxious weed seed" and are defined as follows:
(a)
"Prohibited noxious weed seed" means the seed of perennial, biennial, and annual weeds which are highly detrimental and especially difficult to control. The presence of prohibited noxious weed seed in seed precludes the sale of seed for propagation. Prohibited noxious weed seed includes the seed of any weed so designated by the commissioner.
(b)
"Restricted noxious weed seed" means the seed of weeds which are very objectionable in fields, lawns, and gardens but which can be controlled by good cultural practices. Restricted noxious weed seed includes the seed of any weed so designated by the commissioner.
(17)
"Origin" means the state or foreign country in which seed is grown.
(18)
"Person" means individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, limited liability company, partnership, association, or other legal entity.
(19)
"Pesticide" means a substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest, substance, or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant; except that the term "pesticide" shall not include any substance that is a "new animal drug" as designated by the United States food and drug administration.
(20)
"Record" means any information which relates to the origin, treatment, germination, purity, kind, and variety of each lot of seed sold in this state. Such information includes seed samples and documents showing declarations, labels, purchases, sales, conditioning, bulking, treatment, handling, storage, analyses, tests, and examinations.
(21)
"Retail seed dealer" means any person who engages in the business of selling seed at retail in Colorado.
(22)
"Screenings" means chaff, sterile florets, immature seed, weed seed, inert matter, and any other materials removed in any way from any seed in any kind of cleaning procedure.
(23)
"Seed" means agricultural, vegetable, ornamental, shrub, or tree seed for propagation. The term "seed" does not include tubers that are planted or used, or intended to be planted or used, as seed potatoes and are thus regulated under the "Colorado Seed Potato Act", article
27.3
of this title.
(24)
"Seed labeler" means a person who engages in the business of labeling seed for sale in Colorado and whose name and address appears on the label of such seed.
(25)
"Tolerance" means:
(a)
For "seed", the allowable deviation, as prescribed in the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this article, from any figure used on a label including but not limited to those figures used to designate the percentage of any fraction of the lot in question, the percentage germination, or the number of noxious weed seeds present;
(b)
For "bean", in addition to the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subsection (25), the deviation from minimum levels of seed-borne pathogens and the diseases of beans allowed by the commissioner.
(26)
"Treated" means that the seed has received an application of a substance or that it has been subjected to a procedure for which a claim is made.
(27)
(a)
"Variety" (cultivar) means a division of a kind which is distinct, stable, and uniform.
(b)
For purposes of this subsection (27):
(I)
"Distinct" means that the variety can be differentiated by one or more identifiable morphological, physiological, or other characteristics from all other varieties publicly known.
(II)
"Stable" means that the variety will remain unchanged in its essential and distinctive characteristics and its uniformity when reproduced or reconstituted as required by the different categories of varieties.
(III)
"Uniform" means that variations in essential and distinctive characteristics are describable.
(28)
"Weed seed" means the seed of plants detrimental to agriculture and generally recognized as weeds within this state and includes noxious weed seed.
L. 93: Entire article R&RE, p. 1000, § 1, effective July 1. L. 99: (10) amended, p. 188, § 3, effective March 31. L. 2002: (4) amended, p. 1248, § 24, effective August 7. L. 2007: (9.5) and (11.5) added and (11) amended, p. 642, § 1, effective April 26. L. 2010: (23) amended, (SB 10-072), ch. 384, p. 1792, §3, effective July 1.
This section is similar to former §§ 35-27-101 and 35-27-102 as they existed prior to 1993.
For exceptions to labeling requirements, see §§ 35-27-105 and 35-27-108.