The MDA licenses Agricultural Pesticide Dealers who offer for sale or sell agricultural pesticides in or into the state of Minnesota to a Minnesota end-user. A sale of an agricultural pesticide by a dealer without a valid Dealer License is a violation of the Minnesota Pesticide Control Law (Chapter 18B.316) and may be subject to enforcement action. Agricultural Pesticides are products with Worker Protection Standard labeling as required by 40 Code of Federal Regulations Parts 156 and 170. Licensed pesticide dealers already licensed to sell restricted use pesticides (RUP) or bulk pesticides do not need to obtain an additional license. Agricultural Pesticide Dealers must report sales and pay fees associated with agricultural pesticides sales to the MDA.
The MDA's webpage has information about dealer requirements. The department hopes this content provides useful guidance about dealer licenses and the related requirements. If you have additional questions, please use the contact information and resources provided.
Persons selling agricultural pesticide to end-users for use in Minnesota must invoice the end-use customer at purchase, Minnesota Gross Sales Fee at a rate of 0.55% of the sale price and the ACRRA fee at a rate published in the ACRRA Surcharge table. Dealers must pay those fees and surcharges collected to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture annually.
An end user is a person who uses the product. It may be a person who uses the purchased agricultural pesticides for private use, such as a farmer producing an agricultural commodity or anyone using agricultural pesticides for uses in greenhouse, nursery, right-of-way, landscape and forestry etc.
An end user may also be a person who custom applies pesticides or is a licensed commercial applicator. A licensed commercial applicator that uses pesticides only as an integral part of a pesticide application service is an end-user and does not need to obtain a dealer license.
At point of sale, dealers must make a reasonable and good faith effort to determine where end users will use the purchased products in or out of the state of Minnesota. Only product used in Minnesota must be assessed the fee and surcharge on agricultural pesticide sales. The MDA recognizes that this determination for certain types of sales is problematic.
Pesticide dealers may operate their business in Minnesota, but some operate from outside of Minnesota. Agricultural pesticides sold by a pesticide dealer operating in Minnesota or outside of Minnesota to an end user in Minnesota or to an end user who will use the products in the state, are considered sales made in Minnesota.
Dealer-to-dealer sales of agricultural pesticides at a wholesale level, i.e. sales not made to an end user and agricultural pesticide sold to be used outstate, are exempt from fees and surcharges. Also, products that do not meet the definition of an agricultural pesticide such as non-agricultural pesticides, additives, adjuvants, surfactants, oils, etc. are exempt from the fees.
Sales invoices for agricultural pesticides sold in or into this state by a pesticide dealer must show the percent of gross sales fee rate assessed and the gross sales fee paid.
Dealers collect and pay Minnesota Gross Sales fee and ACRRA surcharge for sale of agricultural pesticides only. Dealers do not charge or collect Minnesota Gross Sales fee or ACRRA surcharge on sales of nonagricultural pesticides, other products, chemicals, shipping or service fees.
No, these rates are stated in Minnesota Pesticide Control Law. Dealers may not set or collect a different percentage rate. The correct percentage rates are:
- Minnesota Gross Sales Fee rate is 0.55%
- Current ACRRA Surcharge rate is published in the ACRRA Surcharge table.
Each licensed pesticide dealer location must report sales and pay applicable fees to the MDA by January 31st following the year of sale. Dealers must report and pay applicable Minnesota Gross Sales fees and ACRRA surcharges on their total annual gross sales of agricultural pesticides. If you have multiple dealer licenses for several locations, each dealer license reports and pays fees for their sales separately. Dealers must also renew their license application and pay license renewal fees before January 31 each year to avoid a license renewal late fee of $75.
For each license, dealers will submit an electronic report of their annual agricultural pesticide sales to the MDA via a reporting application on the department’s webpage. The web application will calculate fees and surcharges owed by the dealer and provide electronic payment or payment by check options.
The MDA recommends that dealers organize their agricultural pesticide sales data before they enter the reporting application. Detailed instructions for online reporting can be found at Agricultural Pesticide Sales Reporting.
Once in the reporting application, agricultural pesticide sales must be uploaded from your system as a complete sales product file. Detailed instructions for online reporting can be found at Agricultural Pesticide Sales Reporting.
Licensed pesticide dealers can pay fees via the web using credit card or electronic check payment at the time they submit their electronic sales report. Dealers can also mail in a check or money order for fees owed with a copy of their sales report summary page to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Agricultural Pesticides are products that bear labeling which meets federal Worker Protection Use Requirements established by 40 CFR Parts 156 and 170. These products can be readily identified by the “Agricultural Use Requirements” box on their label. This section describes Worker Protection Standard Use Requirements.
Yes. Pesticides with labeling that contains both Agricultural Use Requirements and Nonagricultural Use Requirements sections are classified as agricultural pesticides in Minnesota.
Yes. Agricultural pesticides are defined in the Pesticide Control Law. Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP) is a federally assigned pesticide classification. Some agricultural pesticides are classified and labeled as RUP while others are classified as general use.
A pesticide federally classified as "Restricted Use" may only be applied by licensed or certified persons. Product labeling must state “This is a Restricted Use Pesticide" near the top. A bulk pesticide is held in an individual container with a pesticide content of 56 U.S. gallons or more, or 100 pounds or more net dry weight.
The MDA Registered Product Search webpage is a source where you can find product information. Various searches are available based on EPA registration number, company name, or product name. The list of pesticides includes an agricultural pesticide column; when a “Yes” appears in the column the product meets the agricultural pesticide definition. Persons may also contact the MDA’s registration program at 651-201-6583.
Check the Registered Product Search database on the MDA’s website
Dealers must keep records of their purchase, sale, and distribution of agricultural pesticides made in and into Minnesota for a period of five years, including any made from a branch office. All pertinent records need to be available to the MDA upon request for audit purposes. An audit program was created to ensure uniform dealer compliance with dealer licensing, sales distribution and payment of Minnesota Gross Sales Fee and ACRRA Surcharges on agricultural pesticide end user sales. A State auditor is assigned to carry out this program.
