Agricultural Department

To protect the health and safety of our community and staff, we will be closed to the public starting March 20, 2020 until further notice.

We are still taking appointments. Please call us at (530) 822-7500 and leave a message. We will get back to you for requests that are deemed as essential.

Office Closure Notice

Appointed by the Board of Supervisors to a four-year term, the County Agricultural Commissioner is responsible for the local administration of certain federal, state, and local laws and regulations which protect the public’s health, safety and welfare, the environment, agriculture, and the consumer. The Agricultural Commissioner is also the County Sealer of Weights and Measures.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to serve the public's interest by ensuring equity in the marketplace, promoting and protecting agriculture, assuring environmental quality, and protecting the health, safety and welfare of Sutter County's citizens.

We fulfill our mission through the following programs: Pest Exclusion, Pesticide Use Enforcement, Pest Detection, Fruit and Vegetable Standardization, Egg Quality Control, Pest Management, Nursery Inspection, Pest Eradication, Seed Inspection, Weights and Measures Enforcement, Predatory Animal Control, and other non-regulatory and special services programs.

Now Available Crop Report Plus - Economic contributions of Sutter County Agriculture.

Industrial Hemp

What is Industrial Hemp?
"Industrial hemp" means a crop that is limited to types of the plant Cannabis sativa L. having no more than three-tenths (0.3%) of 1 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) contained in the dried flowering tops, whether growing or not; the seeds of the plant; the resin extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin produced therefrom.

What is the difference between cannabis and Industrial Hemp?
Cannabis is defined in California Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 26001(f). The BPC Section 26001(f) definition explicitly states that cannabis does not include industrial hemp.

Is Industrial hemp federally regulated as a controlled substance?
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, effective January 1, 2019, removed hemp from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act. Thus, hemp is no longer federally regulated as a controlled substance.

Sutter County Agricultural Commissioner is accepting Industrial Hemp Registration Applications and fees starting 5/2/19. Links to registration applications are below.

Additional information about Industrial Hemp and registration:

Agricultural Damage Information

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued a Major Disaster Declaration due to the Camp Fire Incident in Butte County. As part of this declaration, Sutter County has been designated as an Eligible Contiguous County for both physical and crop production loss. Please see the attached Cal OES communication for more details.

Pesticide Use Near Schools

Sutter County Walnut Theft Prevention Ordinance

Walnut Hullers

On August 5, 2014, the Sutter County Board of Supervisors passed and adopted the Sutter County Walnut Theft Prevention Ordinance. The purpose of this ordinance is to establish requirements regarding the transportation and identification of walnut crops, including establishing a walnut buying period. It is the purpose and intent of this ordinance to establish a means of verifying ownership of specified agricultural commodities in order to prevent and deter theft of walnuts.