Soil & Plant Amendments

Soil Amendment is any substance which is intended to change the chemical or physical characteristics of soil. This does not include fertilizers, ag liming materials, pesticides and unmanipulated animal/vegetable manures. Soil amendment's basic claims are to improve:

• Water retention
• Permeability
• Water infiltration
• Drainage
• Aeration
• Nutrient availability
• Structure

"Organic Matter" products can be comprised of sphagnum peat moss; composted yard waste, food, and manures; or worm castings. 

Other soil amendments ingredients can include organic acids: humic acid and fluvic acid; compost tea; water holding crystals (Soil Moist); mycorrhizae, bacteria (microbes); or wetting agents. 

Plant amendment is any substance applied to plants or seeds which is intended to improve germination, growth, yield, quality, reproduction, flavor or other desirable characteristics. This does not include fertilizer, ag liming materials, pesticides, unmanipulated animal and vegetable manures. Plant amendment claims to improve:

• Seed germination
• Root development
• Resistance to drought, stress
• Leaf growth
• Fruit set
• Flavor of fruit/vegetable
• Nutrient uptake

Plant amendment products include plant-based extracts, enzymes, vitamins, trace minerals, amino acids, and mycorrhizae bacteria. Their ingredients can include: Vitamin B1 and vitamin C; Amino Acids - tryptophan, arginine, leucine, glycine; bacteria (microbes); kelp extract; and seaweed extract (*Plant hormones can be pesticides or plant growth regulators [PGR]).

Labeling requirements include:

• Brand name
• Active ingredients- Name and percentage of amending ingredients
• Total percentage of other ingredients
• Purpose of the product
• Directions for application
• Name/address of guarantor
• Net weight

A guaranteed analysis is required for active ingredients. For example, the guaranteed analysis might look like this:

Each guarantor of a soil or plant amendment product and each Pennsylvania manufacturing location of a soil or plant amendment must be licensed.  The annual license fee of $25.00 is due July 1 of each year, or prior to the manufacturing or distribution of a soil or plant amendment product.

To apply for a license, complete the Application for a Soil & Plant Amendment License.  Please read instructions completely and print type legibly.

In addition to licensure, the guarantor must register each brand and separately identified soil amendment and plant amendment.  Registration includes the submission of a product label and $25.00 per product registration fee.  Product registrations must be renewed prior July 1 of each year.

To register a soil amendment or plant amendment, complete the Application for Soil & Plant Amendment Product registration.

A license and product registrations can also be obtained online.  First obtain the license by clicking “Apply for New License”, then select Soil & Plant Amendments.  Once a license has been created, you can proceed with registering products.

• Inspection Fee: Guarantors that distribute soil amendments and/or plant amendments to end users in Pennsylvania need to pay 15 cents per ton of amending material distributed. This fee is due twice a year, on January 31 and July 31. If less than one ton was distributed, a minimum fee of $25.00 is due. If you didn’t sell any liming material, you don’t need to pay the minimum fee.
• Reporting: You must report how many tons of soil and/or plant amendments distributed every six months using the Soil & Plant amendment Tonnage Report form. We send this form to all licensees.
• Deadline: The report and fee are due by February 15 and August 15. If you’re late, you’ll have to pay a penalty of $10 or 10% of the fee, whichever is more.
• Dual Purpose Products:  If the soil amendment or plant amendment is mixed with a fertilizer, the tonnage is only reported on the semi-annual fertilizer tonnage report.