As used in this article 36, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. (1) Agent means a person who, on behalf of a dealer or small-volume dealer, buys, receives, contracts for, or solicits any farm products from or sells farm products for the owner of the farm products or who negotiates the consignment or purchase of any farm products on behalf of a dealer or small-volume dealer.
2. (2) Bailee means a person who, by a negotiable warehouse receipt or other document of title, acknowledges possession of goods and contracts to deliver them.
3. (3) Bailment means the act of delivering goods or personal property to another in trust.
4. (4) Commercial feeding means the feeding of livestock by a person who receives compensation from the owner of the livestock for the feeding.
5. (5) Commission means the state agricultural commission created in section 35-1-105.
6. (6) Commissioner means the commissioner of agriculture or the commissioner's designee.

7. (7)

   1. (a) Commodity means unprocessed small, hard seeds or fruits such as wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, sunflower seeds, soybeans, beans, grain sorghum, and industrial hemp and such other seeds or fruits as the commissioner may determine.
   2. (b) Commodity does not include marijuana.

8. (8)

   1. (a) Commodity handler means a person:

      1. (I) Engaged in buying any commodities from the owner for processing or resale;
      2. (II) Engaged in receiving and taking possession of any commodities from the owner for storage or safekeeping;
      3. (III) Engaged in soliciting or negotiating sales of commodities between the vendor and purchaser respectively;
      4. (IV) Who receives on consignment or solicits from the owner of a commodity any kind of commodity for sale on commission on behalf of the owner, who accepts any commodity in trust from the owner of the commodity for the purpose of resale, or who sells or offers for sale on commission any commodity or in any way handles any commodity for the account of the owner of the commodity; or
      5. (V) Engaged in buying any commodity from the owner of the commodity for the commercial feeding of livestock that are owned wholly or in part by another, at an animal feeding operation with a capacity of more than two thousand five hundred head of livestock.

   2. (b) Commodity handler does not include:

      1. (I) A bona fide retail grocery merchant or restaurateur having a fixed or established place of business in Colorado if the use of commodities by the person is directly related to the operation of the person's retail grocery or restaurant; or
      2. (II) A producer as defined in the Colorado Cottage Foods Act, section 25-4-1614 (9)(c), who earns net revenues of ten thousand dollars or less per calendar year from the sale of each eligible food product.
9. (9) Compensation means something of value or benefit, whether in cash, in kind, or in any other form.
10. (10) Consignor includes a person who ships or delivers to a dealer or small-volume dealer any farm products for handling, sale, or resale.
11. (11) Credit sale contract means a contract for the sale of a commodity or a farm product when the sale price is to be paid on a date later than thirty days after delivery of the commodity or farm product to the buyer and includes those contracts commonly referred to as deferred payment contracts, deferred pricing contracts, and price later contracts.

12. (12)

    1. (a) Dealer means a person:

       1. (I) Engaged in buying any farm products from the owner for processing or resale;
       2. (II) Engaged in receiving and taking possession of any farm products from the owner for storage or safekeeping;
       3. (III) Engaged in soliciting or negotiating sales of farm products between the vendor and purchaser respectively;
       4. (IV) Who receives on consignment or solicits from the owner of a farm product any kind of farm product for sale on commission on behalf of the owner, who accepts any farm product in trust from the owner of the farm product for the purpose of resale, or who sells or offers for sale on commission any farm product or in any way handles any farm product for the account of, or as an agent of, the owner of the farm product; or
       5. (V) Engaged in buying any farm products or commodities from the owner of the farm products or commodities for the commercial feeding of livestock that are owned wholly or in part by another, at an animal feeding operation with a capacity of more than two thousand five hundred head of livestock.

    2. (b) Dealer does not include:

       1. (I) A bona fide retail grocery merchant or restaurateur having a fixed or established place of business in Colorado if the use of farm products by the person is directly related to the operation of the person's retail grocery or restaurant; or
       2. (II) A producer as defined in the Colorado Cottage Foods Act, section 25-4-1614 (9)(c), who earns net revenues of ten thousand dollars or less per calendar year from the sale of each eligible food product.
13. (13) Department means the department of agriculture.

14. (14)

    1. (a)

       1. (I) Farm products includes the following unprocessed products produced in Colorado or owned by any Colorado resident, dealer, or small-volume dealer:

          1. (A) Agricultural, horticultural, viticultural, fruit, and vegetable products of the soil;
          2. (B) Livestock and livestock products, except livestock held by the purchaser and not resold or processed within ninety days after the purchase date;
          3. (C) Milk; and
          4. (D) Honey.

       2. (II) Farm products also includes:

          1. (A) Ensiled corn;
          2. (B) Baled, cubed, or ground hay; and
          3. (C) Industrial hemp.
    2. (b) Farm products does not include poultry and poultry products, timber products, nursery stock, commodities, marijuana, or natural medicine as defined in section 12-170-104 (12).
15. (15) Financial statement means a statement prepared according to generally accepted accounting principles that accurately presents the financial condition of an applicant or licensee and that includes, at a minimum, a balance sheet and a statement of income.
16. (16) Forwarded commodities means commodities sent to a terminal warehouse and put on open storage in the name of the forwarding warehouse operator.
17. (17) Handling means buying commodities for resale or processing, brokering commodities, or receiving and loading out commodities tendered for storage.
18. (18) Industrial hemp has the meaning set forth in section 35-61-101 (7).
19. (19) Livestock has the meaning set forth in section 35-1-102 (6).
20. (20) Loss means any monetary loss to a producer or owner that is of an extraordinary nature and that includes but is not limited to, bankruptcy, embezzlement, theft, fraud, or negligence.
21. (21) Marijuana has the meaning set forth in section 16 (2)(f) of article XVIII of the Colorado constitution.
22. (22) Market value means the value required by law to be used by insurance underwriters in paying for losses of commodities insured for their actual value.
23. (23) Negotiable warehouse receipt means a receipt that specifies by its terms that the goods are to be delivered to the bearer or to the order of a named person. Any other receipt is nonnegotiable.
24. (24) Owner means any person in whom legal title to any commodity or farm product is vested, whether produced by the owner or acquired by purchase.
25. (24.5) Patronage interest means shares or membership interests, partnership interests, or other ownership interests in a licensee that is a cooperative association, which shares or interests are allocated and distributed to the producer in proportion to that producer's patronage of the cooperative association.

26. (25) Person includes:

    1. (a) An individual, firm, association, partnership, or corporation; or
    2. (b) The commissioner.
27. (26) Processing means the operation of canning, drying, fermenting, distilling, extracting, preserving, grinding, crushing, flaking, mixing, or otherwise changing the form of a commodity or farm product for the purpose of selling or reselling any of the resulting products.
28. (27) Producer means a person engaged in growing commodities or farm products or producing farm products.
29. (28) Provisional insurance coverage means a certificate or any other satisfactory evidence of fire and extended coverage insurance issued by an insurance company authorized to do business in this state insuring every commodity in the custody of a warehouse operator, whether held for others or owned by the warehouse operator, at the full local market value of each commodity.
30. (29) Public warehouse includes an elevator, mill, warehouse, or other structure in which commodities are received from one or more members of the public for storage.
31. (30) Retail grocery merchant means a person whose sales consist of more than fifty percent nonfarm-product and noncommodity grocery household merchandise.
32. (31) Scale ticket means a receipt issued for a commodity that names the person to whom it is issued and the kind and grade of the commodity stored.
33. (32) Settlement sheet means a summary of a commodity handler's or small-volume commodity handler's transactions with an owner.

34. (33) Small-volume commodity handler means a person who:

    1. (a) Has a fixed or established place of business in this state;
    2. (b) Engages in commodities handling;
    3. (c) Buys less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars' worth of commodities and farm products per year from owners for processing or resale; and
    4. (d) Does not purchase commodities for commercial feeding of livestock.

35. (34) Small-volume dealer means a person that:

    1. (a) Does not qualify as a dealer under subsections (12)(a)(II) to (12)(a)(V) of this section;
    2. (b) Has a fixed or established place of business in Colorado;
    3. (c) Subject to adjustment made by the commissioner by rule, as authorized under section 35-36-103 (1)(c), buys less than forty-five thousand dollars' worth of farm products or commodities, in aggregate, per year from the owners for processing or resale; and
    4. (d) Does not purchase farm products for commercial feeding of livestock.
36. (35) Storage means the holding of a commodity or farm product for another by a person who does not directly own the commodity or farm product. Storage does not include transportation of a commodity or farm product.
37. (36) Terminal warehouse means a public warehouse licensed by the department, the United States department of agriculture, or any state that has a warehouse examination cooperative agreement with Colorado or the United States department of agriculture.
38. (37) Warehouse operator includes a person owning, operating, or controlling a public warehouse.

Source: L. 2020: Entire article amended with relocations, (HB 20-1213), ch. 160, p. 716, § 2, effective June 29. L. 2023: (14)(b) amended, (SB 23-290), ch. 249, p. 1423, § 41, effective July 1. L. 2025: (7), IP(34), and (34)(c) amended and (24.5) added, (SB 25-176), ch. 218, pp. 1003, 1004, §§ 6, 8, 3, effective August 6.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 35-36-102 as it existed prior to 2020; except that subsection (1) is similar to former § 35-37-103 (1), subsection (12) is similar to former § 35-37-103 (7), subsection (14) is similar to former § 35-37-103 (8), subsection (21) is similar to former § 35-37-103 (9.5), subsection (30) is similar to former § 35-37-103 (14), and subsection (34) is similar to former § 35-37-103 (15) as they existed prior to 2020.