(1) The petition requirements are:

(a) name of applicant;

(b) address of applicant;

(c) if applicant is an organization, a list of officers with complete addresses and phone numbers;

(d) the proposed rate of assessment per unit of commodity;

(e) a proposed statement of purpose;

(f) a list of 25 or more producer signatures (including legibly printed names, addresses, and phone numbers) of this commodity who are petitioning the Montana department of agriculture to develop a commodity research and market development program;

(i) the petition must include only names of persons who qualify as a "grower or producer" as defined in 80-11-503 , MCA; "A person or landowner who is personally engaged in growing or producing commodities, or both the landowner and the tenant jointly. The term includes a person, partnership, association, corporation, cooperative, trust, sharecropper, and all other business units, devices, and arrangements."

(ii) the grower or producer must have grown or produced this agricultural commodity within the last two growing seasons.

(g) attach a list of all known producers (with addresses and phone numbers) of this commodity, as defined above, who are 18 years of age or older, and a Montana resident;

(h) the department of agriculture shall verify eligibility of petitioners as commodity producers using the definition in (1) (f) (i) ;

(i) a petition shall be filed with the department either in person or by certified mail; and

(j) application shall include the name, address, and phone numbers of the designated liaison for the petitioners.