The director of the department of agriculture
shall execute the powers and discharge the duties vested by law in him or in
the department, including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) Pursuant to chapter 53, title 67, Idaho Code, hire, assign duties and
evaluate the performance of all employees of the department.
(2) Designate employees for special assignment, office or function as the
needs of the department may require.
(3) Acquire, generate, develop and disseminate information and data
concerning agricultural pursuits, productivity and product quality.
(4) Encourage and promote in every practical manner, the interests of
agriculture, horticulture, apiculture, aquaculture, the livestock industries,
poultry and fowl raising, wool and fur-bearing animals and their allied
industries.
(5) Assist, encourage and promote the organization of farmers'
institutes, agricultural, horticultural, management or cooperative societies
and organizations for the benefit of agricultural pursuits in this state.
(6) Promote improved methods of production, storage, sales and marketing
of agricultural industries.
(7) Establish and promulgate standards of construction, use and
sanitation of open and closed receptacles for farm products, and standards for
grade or other classification of farm products.
(8) Prescribe and promulgate rules governing marks, brands and labels,
and the registration thereof, for use upon receptacles for farm products.
(9) Promote, in the interest of the public, economical and efficient use
of products and commodities used in the production of agricultural,
horticultural, meats and other products and farm commodities and their
distribution.
(10) Cooperate with producers, processors and consumers in devising and
maintaining economical and efficient systems of distribution, and to assist in
the reduction of waste and expense incidental to the marketing of agricultural
products.
(11) Gather and diffuse timely information and statistics concerning
supply, demand, prevailing prices and commercial movement of agricultural
products.
(12) Maintain a market news service, including information concerning
crops, freight rates, commission rates and such other information as may be of
service to producers and consumers, and to act as a clearinghouse for
information between producers and consumers.
(13) Cooperate with the secretary, colleges and universities, experiment
stations, and other agencies which cooperate in devising, research and
development and utilization of improved agricultural production and other
activities.
(14) Investigate the practices, methods of factors, management techniques
of commission merchants, track buyers and others who receive, solicit, buy,
sell, handle on commission or otherwise, or deal in grains, eggs, livestock,
vegetables or other products used as human foods, to the end that distribution
of such commodities through such factors, commission merchants, track buyers
and others be efficiently and economically accomplished without hardship,
waste or fraud.
(15) Enter and inspect any right-of-way of any irrigation canal, railway,
public highway, field, orchard, nursery, fruit or vegetable packing house,
store room, sales room, storage facility, depot or other place where fruits
and vegetables are grown or stored and to inspect fruits, trees, plants,
vines, shrubs or other articles within the state, and if such places or
articles are infested with pests, insects or their eggs or larvae, or with any
contagious or transmittable diseases injurious to plant life, to abate or
eradicate the same as a nuisance.
(16) Provide treatment for and prevent the spread of infectious or
communicable diseases among bees, livestock, fur-bearing animals or domestic
animals through the systematic and periodic inspection, testing or treatment
of such bees and animals at the expense of the owner thereof.
(17) Protect the livestock interests of the state from losses due to
disease or hazards to animal health and communicable to humans through
agricultural products. The director is authorized to regulate, as deemed
necessary, commercial livestock truck washing facilities. This includes
permitting for the treatment or disposal, at any location, of any wash water
generated by the facility. This subsection preempts Idaho department of
environmental quality's authority to issue land application permits and to do
plan and specification reviews under section 39-118, Idaho Code, for livestock
truck wash facilities, but does not affect any other authority of the Idaho
department of environmental quality.
(18) Maintain recording of earmarks, eartags or other identifying marks
not covered under any other provisions of law.
(19) Purchase, lease, hold, sell, and dispose of real and personal
property of the department when, in the judgment of the director, such
transactions promote the purposes for which the department is established.
(20) Contract with any state agency, federal agency or agency of another
state concerning any matter, program or cooperative effort within the scope
and jurisdiction of its authority pursuant to law.
(21) Assist in the improvement of country life, farm occupations and to
cooperate in effectuating equality of opportunity of those employed in
agricultural pursuits in the state of Idaho.
(22) Investigate diseases, contamination of livestock and poultry,
agricultural, horticultural, and farm products, suspected to be infected or
contaminated by bacterial, viral, protozoal, parasitic, chemical, nuclear,
botanical or other disease-producing agents, or carrying a residue of any such
disease-producing agent or chemical in excess of any tolerance established by
federal or state law or regulation and to examine, conduct tests, and issue
"hold orders" on any livestock, poultry, agricultural, horticultural or farm
products as deemed necessary to effectuate a diagnosis of disease,
contamination or chemical level to safeguard and protect animal and man. And
additionally, authorize and implement a predator control program on state and
private lands using any kind of toxic material or substance suitable for such
purpose. Any toxic material or substance shall be approved for use by the
director. In order to carry out the provisions of this subsection (22), the
director shall prescribe and promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 52, title
67, Idaho Code.
(23) Prescribe by rule an interest charge which may be assessed on all
accounts which are thirty (30) days past due from the initial billing date or
the assessment due date. The interest rate charged shall not exceed twelve
percent (12%) per annum.
(24) To take all steps that are deemed necessary to prevent and control
damage or conflicts on federal, state, or other public or private lands caused
by predatory animals, rodents, or birds, including threatened or endangered
wildlife within the state of Idaho as are established by federal or state law,
federal or state regulation, or county ordinance, that are injurious to animal
husbandry, agriculture, horticulture, forestry, wildlife and human health and
safety.
(25) To administer oaths, certify to all official acts and subpoena any
person in this state as a witness; to compel through subpoena the production
of books, papers, and records; and to take the testimony of any person on
deposition in the same manner as prescribed by law in the procedure before the
courts of this state. A subpoena issued by the director shall extend to all
parts of the state and may be served by any person authorized to do so. All
powers of the director enumerated in this subsection (25) with respect to
administering oaths, power of subpoena, and other powers in hearings on
complaints shall likewise be applicable to hearings held on applications for
the issuance or renewal of licenses.
(26) To appoint, as necessary, committees for the purpose of advising the
director on any and all matters relating to agricultural programs within the
Idaho department of agriculture. |
