A. The department shall sample, inspect, make analyses of and test fertilizers and soil conditioners distributed within the state at a time and place and to the extent necessary to determine whether the fertilizer or soil conditioner is in compliance with the New Mexico Fertilizer Act. The department may enter upon public or private premises or carriers during the regular business hours in order to have access to fertilizer or soil conditioners and may examine records relating to the distribution of fertilizer and soil conditioners subject to the provisions of the New Mexico Fertilizer Act and the rules adopted pursuant to that act.

B. The methods of analysis and sampling shall be those adopted by the department from sources such as the association of official agricultural chemists. In cases not covered by such methods, or in cases where methods in which improved applicability has been demonstrated are available, the department may adopt such appropriate methods from other sources.

C. The department, in determining for administrative purposes whether a fertilizer is deficient in plant food, shall be guided solely by the official sample, as defined by Section 76-11-3 NMSA 1978, obtained and analyzed as provided for in Subsection B of this section.

D. Upon request, the department shall furnish to the registrant a portion of any sample found subject to penalty or other legal action. Official samples establishing a penalty for nutrient deficiency shall be retained for a minimum of ninety days from issuance of a deficiency report.

History: 1953 Comp., § 45-13-17, enacted by Laws 1963, ch. 184, § 7; 1975, ch. 181, § 7; 2013, ch. 112, § 6.

The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, expanded the scope of the inspection and sampling requirements to apply to all fertilizers; authorized the examination of records relating to distribution of fertilizers and soil conditioners; required the retention of samples; established a penalty for nutrient deficiency; in Subsections A and C, deleted "commercial" before "fertilizer"; in Subsection A, in the first sentence, after "to the extent", deleted "as it may be deemed", and in the second sentence, after "soil conditioners", added "and may examine records relating to the distribution of fertilizer and soil conditioners" and after "Fertilizer Act and the", deleted "regulations pertaining thereto" and added "rules adopted pursuant to the Act"; in Subsection B, added the second sentence; in Subsection C, deleted "of the New Mexico Fertilizer Act"; and in Subsection D, added the second sentence.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 3 Am. Jur. 2d Agriculture § 57.

Constitutionality of statute making certificate of result of chemical analysis evidence, 29 A.L.R. 290.

Constitutionality, construction and application of statutes relating to testing or sampling of agricultural fertilizers, 105 A.L.R. 348, 147 A.L.R. 765.

3 C.J.S. Agriculture § 76.