As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 733

2025-2026

To amend sections 1.61, 303.01, 519.01, 901.511, 929.01, 1311.55, 1729.01, and 5501.50 of the Revised Code to expressly include the production of maple syrup and maple products in the laws relating to agriculture.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 1.61, 303.01, 519.01, 901.511, 929.01, 1311.55, 1729.01, and 5501.50 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 1.61. As used in any statute except section 303.01 or 519.01 of the Revised Code, "agriculture" includes farming; ranching; aquaculture; algaculture meaning the farming of algae; apiculture and related apicultural activities, production of honey, beeswax, honeycomb, and other related products; horticulture; viticulture, winemaking, and related activities; animal husbandry, including, but not limited to, the care and raising of livestock, equine, and fur-bearing animals; poultry husbandry and the production of poultry and poultry products; dairy production; the production of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, sod, or mushrooms; the production of maple syrup and maple products; timber; pasturage; any combination of the foregoing; the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production; and any additions or modifications to the foregoing made by the director of agriculture by rule adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

Sec. 303.01. As used in sections 303.02 to 303.25 of the Revised Code, "agriculture" includes farming; ranching; algaculture meaning the farming of algae; aquaculture; apiculture; horticulture; viticulture; animal husbandry, including, but not limited to, the care and raising of livestock, equine, and fur-bearing animals; poultry husbandry and the production of poultry and poultry products; dairy production; the production of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, sod, or mushrooms; the production of maple syrup and maple products; timber; pasturage; any combination of the foregoing; and the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production.

Sec. 519.01. As used in sections 519.02 to 519.25 of the Revised Code, "agriculture" includes farming; ranching; algaculture meaning the farming of algae; aquaculture; apiculture; horticulture; viticulture; animal husbandry, including, but not limited to, the care and raising of livestock, equine, and fur-bearing animals; poultry husbandry and the production of poultry and poultry products; dairy production; the production of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, sod, or mushrooms; the production of maple syrup and maple products; timber; pasturage; any combination of the foregoing; and the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with, but are secondary to, such husbandry or production.

Sec. 901.511. (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Agricultural product" means any of the following items that is produced for testing or research in the context of a product development program in conjunction or coordination with a private research facility, a university, or any federal, state, or local governmental agency or that is produced for personal, commercial, pharmaceutical, or educational purposes: field crop or field crop product; timber or timber product; forestry product; livestock or livestock product; meat or meat product; milk or dairy product; poultry or poultry product; equine animal; wool; fruit or vegetable crop; aquacultural product; algacultural product; horticultural crop, including plant materials grown in a greenhouse, nursery stock grown inside or outside of a container, ornamental grass, turf grass, ornamental trees, ornamental shrubs, or flowers; sod; mushrooms; viticultural product; apicultural product; tobacco; pasture; maple syrup or maple product; wild animal or domestic deer, as "wild animal" and "domestic deer" are defined in section 1531.01 of the Revised Code; monitored captive deer, captive deer with status, or captive deer with certified chronic wasting disease status as defined in section 943.01 of the Revised Code; or any combination of those items.

(2) "Algacultural product" means algal paste, algal powder, or dried algae that is comprised primarily of algal biomass.

(3) "Equipment" means any implement, machinery, real or personal property, building, or structure that is used in the production, growing, harvesting, or housing of any agricultural product. "Equipment" also includes any laboratory, research, product, samples, supplies, or fixed equipment that is used to test, develop, or analyze the process of producing, growing, or maintaining any agricultural product.

(4) "Material support or resources" means currency, payment instruments, other financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets, except medicine or religious materials.

(5) "Payment instrument" means a check, draft, money order, traveler's check, cashier's check, teller's check, or other instrument or order for the transmission or payment of money regardless of whether the item in question is negotiable.

(6) "Specified offense" means either of the following:

(a) A violation of section 2909.02, 2909.03, 2909.05, 2909.06, 2909.07, 2911.13, 2911.21, 2913.02, 2913.04, or 2913.42 of the Revised Code;

(b) An attempt to commit, complicity in committing, or a conspiracy to commit an offense listed in division (A)(5)(a) of this section.

(B) No person shall commit a specified offense involving any agricultural product or equipment with the intent to do any of the following:

(1) Intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(2) Influence the policy of any government by intimidation or coercion;

(3) Affect the conduct of any government;

(4) Interrupt or interfere with agricultural production, agricultural research, or equipment for purposes of disrupting or influencing, through intimidation or other means, consumer confidence or agricultural production methods.

Division (B) of this section does not apply to the practice of veterinary medicine by a person who has been issued a valid license, temporary permit, or registration certificate to practice veterinary medicine under Chapter 4741. of the Revised Code. As used in this division, "practice of veterinary medicine" has the same meaning as in section 4741.01 of the Revised Code.

(C) No person shall raise, solicit, collect, donate, or provide any material support or resources with the purpose that the material support or resources will be used in whole or in part to plan, prepare, carry out, or aid in either a violation of division (B) of this section or in the concealment of, or an escape from, a violation of that division.

(D)(1) In addition to the penalties established in section 901.99 of the Revised Code for a violation of this section, the court may require any person who violates this section to pay the victim of the offense an amount up to triple the value of the agricultural product or equipment that was the subject of the violation.

(2) In ordering restitution under division (D)(1) of this section, the court shall consider as part of the value of the agricultural product or equipment the market value of the agricultural product or equipment prior to the violation and the production, research, testing, replacement, and development costs directly related to the agricultural product or equipment that was the subject of the violation.

(E) The enactment of this section is not intended to require the prosecution exclusively under this section of an act, series of acts, or course of behavior that could be prosecuted either under this section or under another section of the Revised Code. One or more acts, series of acts, or courses of behavior that may be prosecuted either under this section or under another section of the Revised Code may be prosecuted under this section, the other section, or both sections.

Sec. 929.01. As used in this chapter:

(A) "Agricultural production" means commercial aquaculture, algaculture meaning the farming of algae, apiculture, animal husbandry, or poultry husbandry; the production for a commercial purpose of timber, field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, maple syrup, nursery stock, ornamental shrubs, ornamental trees, flowers, or sod; the growth of timber for a noncommercial purpose if the land on which the timber is grown is contiguous to or part of a parcel of land under common ownership that is otherwise devoted exclusively to agricultural use; or any combination of such husbandry, production, or growth; and includes the processing, drying, storage, and marketing of agricultural products when those activities are conducted in conjunction with such husbandry, production, or growth.

"Agricultural production" includes conservation practices, provided that the tracts, lots, or parcels of land or portions thereof that are used for conservation practices comprise not more than twenty-five per cent of tracts, lots, or parcels of land that are otherwise devoted exclusively to agricultural use and for which an application is filed under section 929.02 of the Revised Code.

(B) "Withdrawal from an agricultural district" includes the explicit removal of land from an agricultural district, conversion of land in an agricultural district to use for purposes other than agricultural production, and withdrawal of land from a land retirement or conservation program to use for purposes other than agricultural production. Withdrawal from an agricultural district does not include land described in division (A)(3) of section 5713.30 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 1311.55. (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Agricultural product" means all fruit and vegetable crops, maple syrup and maple products, meat and meat products, milk and dairy products, poultry and poultry products, wool, and all seeds harvested by a producer for sale, except that it does not include any grain crop that is subject to the fee that the director of agriculture may require to be remitted under section 926.16 of the Revised Code. "Agricultural product" also includes an algacultural product as defined in section 901.511 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Agricultural product handling" means engaging in or participating in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, or negotiating or soliciting a purchase, sale, resale, exchange, or transfer of an agricultural product.

(3) "Agricultural product handler" or "handler" means any person who is engaged in the business of agricultural product handling, except that a person who sells only those agricultural products that the person has produced, or buys agricultural products for the person's own use, is not an agricultural product handler.

(4) "Agricultural producer" or "producer" means any person who grows, raises, or produces an agricultural product on land that the person owns or leases.

(5) "Proceeds" has the same meaning as in division (A)(64) of section 1309.102 of the Revised Code.

(B) An agricultural producer who delivers an agricultural product under an express or implied contract to an agricultural product handler, or an agricultural product handler who delivers an agricultural product under an express or implied contract to another agricultural product handler, has a lien to secure the payment for all of the agricultural product delivered under that contract. The lien attaches to the product, whether in a raw or processed condition, while in the possession of the agricultural product handler, and to the proceeds of the sale of the agricultural product. The lien attaches from the date of delivery of the agricultural product to the handler, or if there is a series of deliveries under the contract, from the date of the first delivery. The lien is contingent until the producer or handler complies with section 1311.56 of the Revised Code.

(C) The lien on an agricultural product covers the contract price agreed upon, or when there is no agreed price at the time of delivery, the value of the agricultural product as determined by the "market news service" of the Ohio department of agriculture on the date the agricultural producer or handler files the affidavit permitted under section 1311.56 of the Revised Code.

(D) Any waiver by a producer or handler of the producer's or handler's right to an agricultural product lien is void as being contrary to public policy.

Sec. 1729.01. As used in this chapter:

(A) "Agricultural cooperative" means a cooperative to which all of the following apply:

(1) The cooperative engages in any activity in connection with the propagation, raising, producing, harvesting, storing, drying, handling, processing, or marketing of agricultural products; procuring equipment and supplies or providing services for producers and others; bargaining; and any activity related to the foregoing.

(2) Producers or agricultural cooperatives exercise more than fifty per cent of the voting control of the cooperative.

(3) The cooperative does at least fifty per cent of its business with producers or agricultural cooperatives.

(B) "Agricultural products" includes aquacultural, horticultural, viticultural, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, bee, and farm products, and the produce or byproducts of any of such products. "Agricultural products" also includes algacultural products as defined in section 901.511 of the Revised Code and maple syrup and maple products.

(D) "Bargaining" means the mutual obligation of a handler and a marketing cooperative to meet at reasonable times and confer and negotiate in good faith. Negotiations may include all terms relative to trading between handlers and producers. The obligation does not require either party to agree upon price, terms of sale, or any other marketing agreement, or to make a concession.

(E) "Board" means the board of directors of an association.

(F) "Cooperative" means an association or a foreign association.

(G) "Entity," except as otherwise provided, means a foreign association, a foreign or domestic corporation other than a cooperative, or a foreign or domestic limited liability company.

(H) "Foreign association" means a corporation organized under the cooperative laws of another state or the District of Columbia or a foreign corporation organized under corporation laws of another state, the District of Columbia, or the United States that operates on a cooperative basis.

(I) "Handler" means a person who acquires agricultural products under a sales contract for the purpose of processing or reselling agricultural products.

(J) "Marketing agreement" means an agreement, contract, or other arrangement between a cooperative and a member in which the member agrees to market all or a part of the products or produce produced by the member, or agrees to purchase all or a part of the member's requirements for inputs, services, or supplies.

(K) "Marketing cooperative" means any agricultural cooperative meeting the requirements of the "Co-operative Marketing Associations Act," 42 Stat. 388 (1922), 7 U.S.C.A. 291, that negotiates sales contracts with handlers on behalf of its members and is not in direct competition with any handler with which it negotiates such contracts.

(L) "Member" means a person who has been qualified and accepted into membership in a cooperative.

(M) "Membership stock" means any class of stock or other equity interest in a cooperative, continuous ownership of which is required for membership in the cooperative.

(N) "Patron" means a person with which a cooperative has made an enforceable agreement to allocate and distribute a per unit retain, patronage dividend, or patronage refund with respect to business conducted by the cooperative with or for the person.

(O) "Patronage stock" means any stock or other equity interest in a cooperative that was originally issued by the cooperative with respect to patronage transactions.

(P) "Person" includes a natural person, partnership, corporation, cooperative, or other entity.

(Q) "Processing" means changing the physical or chemical characteristics of agricultural products.

(R) "Producer" means a person engaged in the production of agricultural products for the market, including a lessor of real or personal property used for production of agricultural products for the market that receives as rent part of the agricultural product.

(S) "Sales contract" means a marketing agreement or other similar arrangement between a handler and a producer, negotiated by the producer or by an agricultural cooperative acting as agent for a producer, under which the producer agrees to grow or produce agricultural products for sale to the handler.

Sec. 5501.50. (A) As used in this section, "agricultural purposes" means commercial animal or poultry husbandry, or the production for a commercial purpose of maple syrup or maple products, field crops, tobacco, fruits, or vegetables. "Agricultural purposes" also includes algaculture meaning the farming of algae.

(B) Whenever the director of transportation acquires real property as provided in section 5501.32 of the Revised Code or otherwise acquires real property in fee simple in the name of the state for highway purposes and subsequently finds the property is not needed for such purposes, or will not be needed for such purposes for a period of two years or more following the date of acquisition of the property, and the property is adjacent to or in the near vicinity of property used for agricultural purposes, the director may, at the director's discretion, offer to lease the property for agricultural purposes for one year at a price consistent with rentals of adjacent agricultural lands in the manner provided in divisions (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), and (I) of this section before conveying or transferring the fee simple estate or any lesser estate or interest in the property, or permitting its use by another.

(C) Real property shall be offered for lease by mailing a notice, in writing, to each person who owns or leases property being used for agricultural purposes that adjoins or is in the near vicinity of the property. The notice shall include a general description of the property offered for lease, the cost of the lease, the manner in which the lease will be made, the requirements of this section, a statement that the person shall notify the director in writing within no more than four weeks following mailing of the notice if the person is interested in leasing the property, and such other information as the director considers necessary.

(D) If the director receives information in writing from two or more persons who are interested in leasing the real property, one of whom is the owner of real property that adjoins the property offered for lease, the director may lease the property to that person. If the director receives such information from two or more persons, two or more of whom are owners of real property that adjoins the property offered for lease, the director shall lease the property to the person whose information is contained in the envelope bearing the earliest postmark.

(E) Any lease made under this section shall be conditioned upon the lessee's written agreement to maintain weed control on the property. If the director has reasonable cause to believe that such an agreement is violated, the director, or any of the director's authorized agents, may, at the director's or authorized agent's discretion, do either of the following:

(1) Provide necessary weed control. The expense of providing weed control shall be paid by the director out of any appropriation to the department of transportation available for the establishment, use, maintenance, or repair of highways and the amount thereof shall be reimbursed by the lessee to the department and if not reimbursed the amount thereof shall be certified to the attorney general for collection by civil action against the lessee of the property.

(2) File a complaint by petition in the court of common pleas of the county in which the property is located. Upon a finding by the court that a violation of the agreement exists as alleged in the petition, the court shall enter an order of abatement against the lessee of the property.

(F) If real property offered for lease as provided in this section is located near a highway where the use of the property for crops such as corn and wheat will obstruct the view of any part of the highway from a person operating a vehicle on the highway or on an intersecting highway or private road, or near an airport where such use of the property may interfere with airport safety, any lease made shall be conditioned upon the lessee's written agreement to use the property for only crops that will not create such an obstruction of the view of the highway or interference with airport safety. If the director has reasonable cause to believe that such an agreement is violated, the director, or any of the director's authorized agents, may, at the director's or authorized agent's discretion, do either of the following:

(1) Remove the crop or such part thereof as may be necessary to ensure that the view of the highway will not be obstructed, or that airport safety will not be reduced. The expense of the removal shall be paid by the director out of any appropriation to the department of transportation available for the establishment, use, maintenance, or repair of highways and the amount thereof shall be reimbursed by the lessee to the department and if not reimbursed the amount thereof shall be certified to the attorney general for collection by civil action against the lessee of the property.

(G) The director may offer to renew annually any lease of real property made under this section to the current lessee or may offer the opportunity to lease to others in the manner and subject to the requirements and limitations as provided for in this section.

(H) The requirements of sections 5501.32, 5501.34, and 5501.45 of the Revised Code relating to the appraisal, advertisement, manner of sale, and minimum sale price of property not needed for highway purposes and the requirements of sections 5501.34 and 5501.45 of the Revised Code relating to the use of property not needed for highway purposes for recreation purposes, do not apply to a lease or renewal of a lease of real property made in accordance with this section.

(I) Except as provided in divisions (E)(1) and (F)(1) of this section, all expense incurred in the lease of real property under this section shall be paid out of the proceeds of the lease and the balance shall be deposited in the highway fund from which the purchase of the real property giving rise to the proceeds was made.

(J) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the director to acquire real property by appropriation for the purpose of leasing it for agricultural purposes.

Section 2. That existing sections 1.61, 303.01, 519.01, 901.511, 929.01, 1311.55, 1729.01, and 5501.50 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. Section 901.511 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both H.B. 276 and H.B. 389 of the 129th General Assembly. The General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds that the composite is the resulting version of the section in effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in this act.