U.S. flower farm compliance and records checklist: questions to verify with agencies

What to take away

Use this flower farm compliance and records checklist to find the questions, then verify each answer with the agency named below.
Record why a requirement applies or does not apply to the farm.
Assign each recurring duty to a person and due date.
Keep source evidence, renewal dates, training, inspections, and corrections together.
Repeat the review whenever the farm changes workers, products, shipping, structures, or claims.

This U.S.-focused flower farm compliance and records checklist is educational and not legal, tax, insurance, pesticide, employment, or certification advice. State and local requirements may be broader, stricter, or more specific.

State rules commonly exceed federal ones on wages, paid leave, heat protection, pesticide reporting, water rights, and record retention. Follow the stricter rule and keep the longer record.

Who to confirm with

Federal agency, with the state office that usually runs the same program:

Topic	Federal	State counterpart
Wages, labor contractors	U.S. Department of Labor	State labor department
Pesticide labels	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	State agriculture department
Worker safety	Occupational Safety and Health Administration	State OSHA plan
Imports, nursery stock	USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service	State plant division
Business, income tax	Internal Revenue Service	Secretary of state, revenue department
Wetlands, water, zoning	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for wetlands	County or city planning office

Questions to verify with each agency

U.S. Department of Labor

Do the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) minimum wage, overtime, and youth employment rules cover this crew and this work, or does an agricultural exemption apply?
Which hours, wage statements, and payroll records does the FLSA require us to keep, and for how long?
How does the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act apply to our wages, housing, transportation, and disclosures?
Must this crew leader be registered as a farm labor contractor, and what records must we keep?
What does the H-2A temporary agricultural program require in labor certification, job orders, housing, and transportation if we hire guest workers?

State labor department

Does our state minimum wage, overtime, paid leave, break, or heat rule cover agricultural workers, and which rule is stricter than the federal one?
When must we carry workers' compensation, and which state office handles coverage and claims?
What state unemployment insurance account and reporting duties apply?
What state youth employment and scheduling limits apply to our crew?

Internal Revenue Service

Do we file Form 943 for agricultural employees' income tax withholding and FICA, and Form 941 for any non-agricultural employees?
When does Form 940 federal unemployment (FUTA) apply to this farm, and which wages are exempt?
Do we give each employee Form W-2 and collect Form W-4?
Which payments to contractors call for Form 1099-NEC?

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and E-Verify

Must every employee complete Form I-9, and which documents may we accept?
Are we required to use E-Verify, or may we enroll voluntarily, and what deadlines apply?
What petition and notice steps follow Department of Labor H-2A certification?

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Which OSHA standards cover our tractors, ladders, heat exposure, hand tools, and chemical handling, and does our state run its own OSHA plan with different or additional rules?
Must we keep OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and 301, and when must we report a fatality, hospitalization, or amputation?
Which training, hazard communication, and personal protective equipment rules apply to our employees?

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Does the Worker Protection Standard cover our pesticide handling, and what training, notification, decontamination, and recordkeeping does it require?
Which certification or supervision does the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) require for the products we use, and who recognizes it in our state?
How must we store, contain, and dispose of pesticides, rinsate, and containers under FIFRA and our state plan?

USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

Does APHIS require a permit, phytosanitary certificate, or inspection to move our live plants, cuttings, bulbs, or seeds?
Which species are prohibited, quarantined, or regulated at our origin or destination?
What scientific names, quantities, and package details must the shipment carry?

State agriculture department and state plant division

Does our nursery, dealer, or cut-flower business need a license, inspection, or certificate, and which division issues it?
Do cut flowers face different pest, labeling, or weights and measures rules than live plants?
What state quarantine or noxious weed duties apply to what we grow and ship?

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state water agency

Does a pond, ditch, wetland, or stream crossing on the farm need a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit?
Do we need a water withdrawal, well, or discharge permit, and which office issues it?

USDA National Organic Program

If we sell organic, must we be certified and follow an organic system plan, and who accredits our certifier?
Which inputs, seeds, and practices are allowed, and what records must we keep?

Business, land, and taxes

Business and land setup

Confirm legal entity and tax accounts
Keep EIN and formation documents
Document ownership and lease rights
Check zoning and visitor access
Confirm building and occupancy approvals
Review insurance for farm activities
Calendar every filing and renewal

Workers and labor providers

Determine worker or contractor status under the applicable IRS and state tests.
Have every new hire complete Form I-9 (employment eligibility) and Form W-4 (withholding), and confirm whether the farm must use E-Verify.
Report new hires to the state new-hire directory where required.
Give required terms, notices, posters, and policies in the proper form and language.
Record hours, pay basis, wages, deductions, reimbursements, and statements.
Check federal and state minimum wage, overtime, youth work, leave, break, and heat rules, including the FLSA agricultural exemptions.
Confirm workers' compensation and state unemployment insurance duties.
File Form 943 for agricultural employees' income tax withholding and FICA, Form 941 for any non-agricultural employees, and Form 940 for FUTA where it applies; furnish Form W-2 to each employee.
Review housing and transportation before offering either, including MSPA and H-2A standards.
Verify farm labor contractor registration and scope under MSPA when using a contractor.
Keep safety, task, equipment, and pesticide training records, including OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and 301 where the farm must record injuries and illnesses.

The U.S. Department of Labor explains that the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act addresses wages, housing, transportation, disclosures, contractor registration, and recordkeeping for covered workers and employers. Use Fact Sheet 49 to identify questions, then verify coverage, exemptions, state rules, and current obligations for the farm's workforce.

Worker and labor compliance

Determine worker or contractor status
Complete hiring and tax reporting
Record hours, wages, and deductions
Check wage, overtime, and youth rules
Confirm workers' compensation duties
Verify farm labor contractor registration
Keep safety and pesticide training records

Pesticides and chemicals

Inventory products, EPA registration numbers, labels, safety data, and storage locations.
Confirm applicator certification or supervision requirements.
Verify that crop or site, rate, timing, method, and purpose appear on the current label.
Record mixing, loading, application, weather, equipment, location, and amount.
Post or notify as required and control restricted entry.
Provide required training, information, protective equipment, decontamination, and emergency support.
Inspect storage, secondary containment, security, spill supplies, and incompatible materials.
Handle rinsate, containers, surplus, and disposal under applicable directions and rules.
Report incidents where required and retain investigation records.

Worked example of an application record:

Field / Example entry

Product, EPA number, rate: Example Brand 4L, EPA No. 00000-000, 1.5 pints per acre
Crop, site, pest, date: Lisianthus, bed 3, aphids, 2027-06-14
Applicator, certification: A. Rivera, state applicator no. 000000
Weather at start and end: 68 F, wind 4 mph; 71 F, wind 6 mph
Area, entry interval, review: 1.8 acres, 12 hours, gates posted, farm manager

Fill in your own product, rate, and certification number, and take the EPA registration number and rate from the current EPA-approved label for that product.

Soil, water, waste, and structures

Identify water source, withdrawal, well, irrigation, and discharge requirements.
Prevent fertilizer, pesticide, soil, wash water, and fuel releases.
Review compost feedstock, operation, sale, runoff, and local nuisance rules.
Inventory waste streams and approved disposal or recycling routes.
Inspect fuel, oil, propane, batteries, refrigerants, and backup power.
Record maintenance and calibration for irrigation, coolers, sprayers, heaters, and electrical systems.

Products, labeling, and sales

Product and sales compliance

Classify each item by product type
Check nursery and labeling rules
Confirm market and tax duties
Write prices, deposits, and return terms
Review florist and wholesale contracts
Protect customer and payment data

Describe whether each item is a cut flower, live plant, seed, tuber, bulb, dried material, food, cosmetic, or another regulated product.
Check nursery, dealer, inspection, labeling, quarantine, and invasive-species rules for live material.
Confirm market, business, tax, weights and measures, packaging, signage, and receipt duties.
Write prices, deposits, cancellations, substitutions, returns, credits, and delivery terms.
Review florist, cooperative, event, subscription, and wholesale contracts.
Protect customer and payment data.

Shipping and plant movement

Record scientific and common names for live plants and propagative material.
Check origin, destination, current quarantine, prohibited species, and regulated articles.
Confirm required inspection, permit, certificate, label, treatment, and carrier condition.
Keep invoice, packing list, quantity, origin, destination, and shipment date.
Stop the order when the requirement is uncertain.

APHIS explains that imported plants and seeds may require permits, phytosanitary certificates, scientific names, quantities, and specific routing and package information. Its online plant and seed selling checklist addresses international shipments into the United States. Domestic interstate movement also requires federal and state quarantine checks, so do not use an import checklist as the only review.

Claims and certifications

Approve exact wording for organic, local, pesticide, environmental, and material claims.
Define scope, boundary, period, comparison, method, and limitations.
Keep certificates, plans, supplier records, field logs, measurements, and calculations.
Review labels, signs, website pages, photos, and sales posts together.
Remove expired, unsupported, or overly broad claims.
Separate certified status from voluntary practices.

Customers, visitors, and events

Assess entrances, parking, paths, lighting, sanitation, accessibility, weather, animals, tools, water, and emergency access.
Set rules for children, photography, cutting tools, restricted areas, and after-hours entry.
Confirm event, food, alcohol, music, fire, occupancy, and vendor requirements where relevant.
Train staff on emergency contacts, incident response, and documentation.
Inspect before opening and record corrections.

Records and annual close

Maintain a record inventory with authority and retention period.
Back up digital files and test restoration.
Restrict payroll, medical, customer, and credential access.
Preserve correction history.
Reconcile permits, training, applications, incidents, payroll, harvests, sales, claims, and waste.
Run a mock retrieval and assign every gap.
Obtain professional review for unresolved high-risk items.

Common periods:

Record	Common retention period
Payroll, hours, wage statements	3 years under federal wage rules
Tax returns	3 years is the usual IRS assessment window, 6 for large understatements
Restricted use pesticide records	2 years federally, longer in some states
Worker protection training	2 years federally
OSHA injury and illness logs	5 years
Employee medical and exposure records	Employment plus 30 years
Organic certificates and input records	5 years under the USDA organic rule
Deeds, leases, easements	Permanent

Each period traces back to the rule that sets it: payroll and hours under the FLSA, tax returns under IRS rules, pesticide application records under the EPA Worker Protection Standard, injury and illness records under OSHA, and wages, housing, and transportation under MSPA. Write the authority next to each period in your own record inventory.

Common questions

Does checking a box prove compliance?

No. The farm needs current facts, authoritative requirements, completed action, and supporting evidence.

Do cut flowers face the same shipping rules as live plants?

Not always. Product, species, plant part, origin, destination, pest status, and use can change the requirement.

Can a market permit replace local business approval?

No. A market's acceptance does not automatically satisfy tax, zoning, employment, product, or other government duties.

How often should this checklist be reviewed?

At least before each season and immediately before a material change in workforce, product, activity, site, shipment, or claim.