Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1975 )

,
February 20, 1975
The Honorable Marvin F. Marshall Opinion No. H- 536
County Attorney
County of Hale Re: Whether cattle manure is
Plainview. Texas an “agricultural product
in its natural state” within
article 6701d-11, section 3a,
Dear Mr. Marshall: V. T. C. S.
Your opinion request concerns article 6701d-11. section 3a, V. T. C. S.
This statute imposes restrictions on the manner in which loose material
may be loaded and transported in a truck or other vehicle. Its purpose
is to prohibit loose material from being loaded and transported in such a
manner as would allow the material to blow or spill from the vehicle onto
the highways because of movement or wind. Attorney General Opinion
M-1025 (1971). Loose material is defined in section 3a(b) of article 6701d-11:
As used in this section, ‘loose material’ means dirt,
sand, gravel, wood chips, or other material that is
capable of blowing or spilling from a vehicle as a
result of movement or exposure to air, wind currents,
or weather, but shall not include agricultural, products
in their naturai~ state.
Since cattle manure is material that is capable of blowing or spilling
from a vehicle as a result of movement or exposure to air, wind currents
or weather, you ask whether cattle manure would qualify as an agricultural
product so as to be excepted from the restrictions imposed by article 6701d-11.
No definition of “agricultural product ” is set out in article 6701d-11.
In most jurisdictions the term is defined broadly, e.g. :
The common parlance of the country and the common
practice of the country have~‘beeh tolcbnsider alli.those
.things as’,farmihg ~p,roducts ,oi~ agricultural products
p. 2415
The Honorable Marvin F. Marshall page 2 (H-536)
which have the situs of their production upon
the farm, or which are brought into condition
for the uses of society by the labor of those
engaged in agricultural pursuits, in contra-
distinction from manufacturing or other pursuits.
The product of the dairy and the product of the
poultry yard, while it does not come directly out
of the soil, is necessarily connected with the soil
and those who are engaged in the culture of the
soil. District of Columbia v. Oyster, 15 D. C.
285, 286, 54 Am.. Rep. 275 (1885).
Likewise,
The term ‘agriculture’ is broader in meaning
than ‘farming, ’ and while it includes the pre-
paration of soil, the planting of seeds, the
raising and harvesting of crops and all their
incidents, it also includes dairying. In Re
Rodgers, 134 Neb. 832, 279 N. W. 800,
(1938).
See also Kimball v. Blanchard, 90 N.H. 298, 7 A. 2d 394, 396 (1939);
State Ex Rel Wisconsin Allied Truck Owners’ Association v. Commission,
207 Wig. 664, 242 N. W. 668 (1932); Northern Cedar Co. v. French; 131
Wash. 394, 230 P. 837, 846 (1924); Attorney General Opinion H-272 (1974).
In Texas the terms “agriculture” or “agricultural product” have
usually been used in their broadest sense. For instance in article 5738,
V. T. C. S., the Texas Legislature has defined the term “agricultural
product” so as to include “horticultural, viticultural, forestry, dairy,
livestock, poultry, bee, and any farm and ranch products. ” In Attorney
General Opinion M-187 (1968), offal and similar waste from the slaughter
of animals were deemed to be agricultural products.~ See also Brewer v.
Central Greenhouse Corp., 352 S. W. 2d 101 (Tex. Sup. 1962) and Gordon v.
Buster, 257 S. W. 220 (1923).
p. 2416
I
The Honorable Marvin F. Marshall, page 3 (H-536)
Livestock manure, though not from the soil, is produced incidentally
to cattle raising and we believe our courts would probably construe it
to be within the term “agricultural product” as broadly defined by the
Legislature. Therefore, absent a clear declaration of the Legislature
to the contrary, we do not feel authorized to rule that it cannot be,.loa-ded
and transported in its natural state without bking subject to the restrictions
imposed by article 6701d-11, section, 3a.
SUMMARY
Cattle manure would probably be held by our
Courts to come within the term “agricultural product”
under the broad definition given that term by the Texas
Legislature and amdingly, absent a clear legislatiee
declaration to the contrary, is within the meaning of
article 6701d-11, section 3a and can be loaded and trans-
ported in its natural state without being subject to the
restrictions imposed by that article.
Very truly yours,
L. HILL
orney General of Texas
APPROVED:
DAVID $I. KENDALL, First Assistant
Opinion Committee
p. 2417