The Department of Agriculture may:

(1) Abate, suppress, eradicate and prevent, by such means as shall be prescribed and provided by law or by rule, order or regulation of the Department of Agriculture, the San Jose Scale, peach yellows, pear blight and all other contagious and infectious and injuriously dangerous diseases of fruit trees, plants, vegetables, cereals, horses, cattle, cultured aquatic stock and other farm animals;

(2) Devise and execute measures necessary for the development of the agricultural interests of the State;

(3) Make and adopt rules for the government of the Department of Agriculture, and may change, alter and modify the same from time to time, as the Department of Agriculture may wish, provided however, that no such rule or regulation shall extend, modify or conflict with any law of this State or the reasonable implications thereof;

(4) Employ and discharge such inspectors, officers, employees, agents and servants as in its opinion may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this title; provided, however, that the remuneration or wages to be paid to any such inspectors, officers, employees or agents in any year shall not, together with the other expenses of the Department of Agriculture, exceed the appropriation annually made to the Department of Agriculture by the General Assembly in and for that year;

(5) Make rules for the proper government of all inspectors, officers, employees, agents and servants who may be employed by the Department of Agriculture;

(6) Collect samples of foods, dairy and other feeds, and insecticides and have them analyzed by a laboratory designated by the Department of Agriculture, and cooperate with the United States Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies in enforcing the laws on these subjects as prescribed by the Congress of the United States;

(7) Compel all growers of fruit to stamp or mark the baskets, boxes, packages, crates, parcels or other receptacles used by them for the shipment of any fruit or fruits with the name or names of the growers, initial or initials, or with some distinguishing device or mark which may be readily and easily read and seen on the same, and the Department of Agriculture may adopt rules and regulations to carry this into effect;

(8) Exercise authority and make and adopt regulations covering the possession, control, care, and maintenance of, and take measures necessary to control disease in and ensure the welfare of, the following domesticated species: poultry and livestock, including but not limited to bovine, camilid, cervidae, equine, swine, ruminants, ratites, rabbits, poultry, and other animals harvested for food, fiber, fur or leather;

(9) Devise and execute measures necessary to mitigate disease occurrences in animal species, if such disease is able to affect poultry or livestock, or is capable of causing disease in humans. For rabies refer to Chapter 82 of this title.

(10) The Department of Agriculture may issue an administrative inspection warrant for the purpose of conducting an inspection of, and seizure of property at, any location within the State where race horses are stabled or otherwise located, except those horses stabled or otherwise located at facilities licensed pursuant to § 4805(b)(13) of Title 29, upon proper application for an administrative warrant by the Harness Racing Commission or the Thoroughbred Racing Commission. The issuance of an administrative inspection warrant by the Secretary of Agriculture shall be for the sole purpose of determining whether a violation has occurred pursuant to Chapter 100 or 101 of this title or the regulations promulgated thereunder.

a. An application for an administrative inspection warrant shall:

1. Specifically identify the premises and property to be inspected and shall be limited to the stabling area where racehorses are housed, specifically the stalls, aisleways, feed room, tack room, tack trunks, and other common areas in the shedrow specified in the application. An administrative warrant shall not provide the authority to permit the inspection of dwelling areas and out buildings where racehorses are not housed;

2. Specifically state the items or types of items to be seized if found;

3. Specifically state the full name and address of the Delaware Harness Racing Commission or Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission licensee who is believed to be in violation of Chapter 100 or 101 of this title or the regulations promulgated thereunder;

4. Issue only upon an affidavit by an employee of the Commission applying for the administrative inspection warrant who has knowledge of the facts alleged and sworn to before the Secretary of Agriculture. The warrant shall state the specific purpose of the inspection, the basis for issuing the warrant and the name, address and telephone number of each affiant supporting the issuance of the warrant;

5. Direct the Commission’s employee or designee thereof who is a police academy graduate to be accompanied by a Commission or State veterinarian and to inspect the premises and property so specified and to seize, if appropriate, the property specified in the warrant; and

6. Direct that the warrant shall only be served and executed during normal business hours and shall be returned as completed to the Secretary of Agriculture as soon as immediately practicable. Normal business hours shall mean between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

b. Proper application for an administrative inspection warrant shall be based on a reasonable articulable suspicion that:

1. “Blood-doping”—the process where prohibited substances which abnormally enhance oxygenation of equine body tissue are being, or have been, carried within the body of a race horse—has occurred; or

2. A Class 1 or Class 2 drug is being, or has been, carried in the body of a race horse in violation of Chapter 100 or 101 of this title or the regulations promulgated thereunder.

Unauthorized possession of a hypodermic needle, syringe or injectable of any kind on the premises of a facility licensed pursuant to § 4805(b)(13) of Title 29 shall constitute reasonable articulable suspicion that blood-doping has occurred or a Class 1 or Class 2 drug is being, or has been, carried in the body of a race horse. Reasonable articulable suspicion exists where the totality of the circumstances if corroborated, indicates that the information provided is reliable. Reliability of the information is based on the specificity of the facts alleged and the degree to which the information is corroborated by other independent evidence or information.

c. Service of an administrative inspection warrant shall only be made upon a person who has reached the age of 18 at the time the warrant was served and who has authority to accept service of the warrant by virtue of his or her relationship to the property as the owner of the premises, a family member of the owner of the premises, the lessor of the premises who is the subject of the administrative inspection warrant, the operator or manager of the premises, or any other person authorized by the owner or operator of the premises to accept service of an administrative inspection warrant.

d. The administrative inspection warrant shall be executed and returned to the Secretary of Agriculture within 5 days after being issued and must state the name and age of the person upon whom the warrant was served, the relation of the person to the property being inspected, the date and time the inspection occurred, the buildings inspected, and the specific property seized as a result of the inspection. A written inventory of any property seized as a result of the execution of the administrative inspection warrant shall accompany the return warrant and shall affirm that the inventory was made in the presence of the person executing the warrant and the person(s) from whom the property was seized.

e. No inspection authorized pursuant to this section shall be the basis for criminal prosecution.

f. An administrative inspection warrant shall not be required where a licensee who is the subject of an inspection consents to the inspection of his or her property. Consent to the inspection of the property shall only be valid where the licensee who is the subject of the inspection has been advised that he or she does not have to consent to an inspection without being presented with an administrative warrant issued by the Secretary of Agriculture.

g. In the absence of a finding that a violation under Chapter 100 or 101 of this title or the regulations promulgated thereunder has occurred, any property seized pursuant to the execution of the administrative inspection warrant shall be returned to the person from whom the property was seized within 30 days from the date of execution of the warrant.

(11) Adopt any policies and regulations necessary to permit the cultivation of industrial hemp when federal law permits the cultivation of industrial hemp beyond agricultural or academic research.

21 Del. Laws, c. 216, §§  3, 22;  22 Del. Laws, c. 101, §  1;  22 Del. Laws, c. 332, §  1;  Code 1915, §§  652, 668, 708H;  30 Del. Laws, c. 51, §  1;  Code 1935, §§  570, 586, 707;  3 Del. C. 1953, §  103;  57 Del. Laws, c. 784, §  1B;  67 Del. Laws, c. 344, §  1;  69 Del. Laws, c. 69, §  1;  69 Del. Laws, c. 103, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 109, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;  70 Del. Laws, c. 283, §  1;  79 Del. Laws, c. 135, §  1;  79 Del. Laws, c. 377, §  4;  81 Del. Laws, c. 382, § 1;  81 Del. Laws, c. 431, § 1; 

In order to accomplish the purposes of this title, the Department of Agriculture, its officers, employees, agents and servants, may enter upon any public or private premises, parks or cemeteries, or upon any lands of any person within this State, for the purpose of inspecting, examining, destroying, treating or experimenting upon insects and diseases.

21 Del. Laws, c. 216, §  6;  Code 1915, §  655;  Code 1935, §  573;  3 Del. C. 1953, §  105;  57 Del. Laws, c. 764, §  1B; 

The Department of Agriculture shall send at least one of its officers, agents or employees at least once a year into each county of the State, for the purpose of examining and determining thereby the healthfulness and general condition of the horticultural and agricultural interests.

Code 1935, §  574;  3 Del. C. 1953, §  106;  57 Del. Laws, c. 764, §  1B; 

Whoever, being a grower of any fruits, neglects or fails, after 10 days’ notice by the Department of Agriculture, to comply with any order, rule or regulation of the Department of Agriculture shall be fined $5.00.

21 Del. Laws, c. 216, §  22;  22 Del. Laws, c. 101, §  1;  Code 1915, §  668;  Code 1935, §  586;  3 Del. C. 1953, §  108;  57 Del. Laws, c. 764, §  1B;  77 Del. Laws, c. 359, §  1; 

All moneys appropriated for the Delaware Crop Improvement Association, shall be payable only on warrants drawn by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture shall examine into and verify all the items of expenditure proposed for any of such appropriations and nothing shall be paid out of any of such appropriations unless approved by the Department of Agriculture.

32 Del. Laws, c. 33, §  10;  Code 1935, §  606;  3 Del. C. 1953, §  109;  57 Del. Laws, c. 764, §  1C;  70 Del. Laws, c. 283, §  2; 

(a) For purposes of this section:

(1) “Dairy margin coverage program” means a program operated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides risk management coverage based on the national price of milk and the average cost of feed. “Dairy margin coverage program” includes the program required by 7 U.S.C. § 9053, and any successor or similar program operated by USDA.

(2) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture.

(3) “Qualified dairy operator” means a dairy operator in this State that is qualified to participate in a dairy margin coverage program.

(b) Subject to the availability of funding, the Department may administer a program to reimburse a qualified dairy operator for up to the full amount of the premium paid by the qualified dairy operator to participate in a dairy margin coverage program up to the maximum coverage level available under the program.

(c) A qualified dairy operator may apply to the Department for a reimbursement under this section, by submitting an application and required supporting material at the time and in the manner directed by the Department.

84 Del. Laws, c. 319, § 1; 

The Department must establish a Lyme Disease Intervention Fund, in an amount to be determined by the Joint Finance Committee. The Department must administer the Fund with the goal of reducing the prevalence of Lyme disease, other tick-borne illnesses, and the animals known to carry Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses on Delaware state-owned lands in places people are likely to contract the disease. The Department must investigate the most effective, environmentally-sensitive, and innovative options in the use of the Fund. The Department must coordinate with the Division of Public Health and the Department of Natural Resources in carrying out this mission.

84 Del. Laws, c. 505, § 1;