Who Needs a Nebraska Nursery License?

The Nebraska Plant Protection and Plant Pest Act requires any person that distributes biennial, perennial or woody nursery stock (basically winter hardy plants) in the state to obtain a Nebraska Nursery Stock Distributor license with the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, for the location from which they distribute the nursery stock.

The Act defines distribute to mean selling, exchanging, bartering, moving, or transporting; offering to sell, exchange, barter, move, or transport; holding nursery stock for sale, exchange, or barter; acting as a broker; or otherwise supplying. Entities requiring a license include:

• Permanent greenhouses

• Seasonal or temporary greenhouses

• Wholesale nursery stock facilities

• Nursery stock growers

• Groups holding plant sales (even non-profit groups)

• Landscape installation companies

• Tree spade operators

• Nursery stock brokers

The license is issued for a specific physical location (not a person), and is valid until the end of the calendar year in which it is issued. Changes in ownership or physical address will cause the license to be void.

Firms that grow a portion of the nursery stock they distribute must also apply for a certification inspection of the Nebraska grown nursery stock. The inspection must occur before beginning to distribute that nursery stock.

Information on nursery license requirements is available on the Nebraska Department of Agriculture web site http://www.nda.nebraska.gov/plant/entomology/nursery/index.html and includes a link to apply for a license online. Or contact the Entomology Program Manager at (402) 471-2351 or agr.phyto@nebraska.gov.