Missouri Department of Agriculture
Verified September 7, 2026. Figures quoted from the statute, rule, fee page or form.
Missouri counts pet food and treats as commercial feed and says so to home makers in its own guide. Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.165 requires a Missouri Commercial Feed License for anyone who manufactures in the state, distributes in or into it, or whose name is on the label as guarantor; the fee is $35 per year and the license expires June 30. Each pet food product sold in Missouri only in packages of ten pounds or less is then registered at $90 per product per year, due January 1, with a $25 rate for pet food where the company's gross annual sales do not exceed $5,000, subject to the department's approval. The home-based kitchen law covers food for human consumption, and state guidance answers that pet foods and treats do not fall under it.
| Item | What Missouri says | Cite |
|---|---|---|
| Firm instrument | YesMissouri Commercial Feed License, one per facility, applied for on form MO 350-1186 | Commercial Feed License Application, form MO 350-1186 (8-19), activity checklist |
| Firm fee | Yes$35 per license per year (license year July 1 to June 30, expiring June 30), plus a $25 penalty fee if paid after July 31 | Commercial Feed License Application, form MO 350-1186 (8-19), fee block |
| Firm fee period | YesAnnual, license year July 1 through June 30, each license expiring June 30 of the year for which it is issued | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.165.1 |
| What one firm instrument covers | YesOne license per facility, reaching a manufacturer in Missouri, a distributor in or into Missouri, a label guarantor and an independent consultant | Mo. Rev. Stat. section 266.165.1 |
| Product registration | DependsRegistration is required for pet food distributed in Missouri only in packages of ten pounds or less, and for specialty pet food only in packages of one pound or less, so the same recipe sold in a two pound bag and a six pound bag is registered while the same recipe sold in both a small package and a package over ten pounds falls out of registration and pays tonnage on all of it; MDA separately treats rawhides and bones as exempt from registration and from state labeling requirements unless the label or advertising lists feed ingredients or claims nutritional value | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.190.1(5) (Inspection fees) |
| Fee per product | Yes$90 per product per year (calendar year, due January 1, late after January 31); for pet food only, $25 per product where the company total gross annual sales do not exceed $5,000, which MDA states is subject to approval | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.190.1(5) (Inspection fees) |
| Product registration period | YesAnnual, calendar year January 1 through December 31, payment due January 1, late after January 31 | MDA Feed & Seed Program page, product registration fee table |
| Small package threshold | YesTen pounds or less for pet food and one pound or less for specialty pet food, and the statute reaches only a product distributed in the state exclusively in that size, so the same recipe sold in a two pound bag and a six pound bag stays inside registration while a recipe also sold above ten pounds leaves it and pays tonnage on every size | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.190.1(5) (Inspection fees) |
| Small package fee | Yes$90 per product per year (calendar year, due January 1); for pet food only, $25 per product where the company total gross annual sales do not exceed $5,000, subject to documentation and MDA approval; specialty pet food is a flat $90 with no reduced rate | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.190.1(5) (Inspection fees), the pet food limb with the reduced rate |
| Tonnage fee applies | DependsThe inspection fee applies to pet food distributed in packages exceeding ten pounds, in place of product registration; tonnage is not reported for products that are registered | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.190.1(5), last sentence |
| Tonnage rate | Yes$0.14 per ton on commercial feeds distributed in Missouri, including pet and specialty pet foods outside the registration track | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.190.1 (Inspection fees) |
| Tonnage minimum | Yes$5 per tonnage filer per quarter (calendar quarters, reports due the last day of January, April, July and October) | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.190.1(6) (Inspection fees) |
| Tonnage reporting | YesA quarterly tonnage report of net tons distributed in the preceding calendar quarter, due the last day of January, April, July and October; a report postmarked after the fifteenth of the following month carries 20 percent of the amount due or $5, whichever is greater | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.190.2(1) (Inspection fees; reports) |
| Label goes in with the filing | DependsThere is no pre-approval step, but a paper copy of each label is filed with the product registration listing, and the state may request copies of labels and labeling at any time to determine compliance | Product Registration Listing MO 350-0664 (8-19), products column heading |
| Out-of-state sellers | YesThe license duty reaches a person who distributes commercial feed in or into Missouri and a person whose name appears on the label as guarantor, wherever located | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 266.165.1 |
Three flavors, every one of them sold only in packages of 10 lb or less, at the standard $90 product rate. A company with gross annual sales of $5,000 or less can ask the department for the $25 rate instead, which is not assumed here.
Every figure above is multiplied out from the figures printed beside it, and each of those comes from a quote in the table. Laboratory work for the guaranteed analysis, packaging, a sales tax permit and a business entity filing are separate costs from separate agencies and are not counted here.
File the Commercial Feed License Application, form MO 350-1186
One license per facility. The form asks for the activities you carry on: manufacturing in Missouri, distributing in or into Missouri, or appearing on the label as guarantor. The fee is $35, the license year runs July 1 to June 30, and a payment made after July 31 carries a $25 penalty fee.
List every small-package product on the Product Registration Listing, form MO 350-0664
Registration covers pet food distributed in Missouri only in packages of ten pounds or less, and specialty pet food only in packages of one pound or less. A paper copy of each label goes in with the listing. The fee is $90 per product for the calendar year, due January 1 and late after January 31.
Ask for the $25 rate if your sales are small
For pet food only, the product fee is $25 per product where the company's total gross annual sales do not exceed $5,000. The department says this rate is subject to documentation and its approval, so send the documentation with the listing rather than paying the lower amount on your own.
Skip the tonnage report while every product is registered
The inspection fee of $0.14 per ton applies to pet food distributed in packages exceeding ten pounds, in place of product registration, and tonnage is not reported for products that are registered. A maker who ever ships a larger package files quarterly, with a $5 minimum per quarter.
Put the Missouri label items on every bag
The product and brand name, the intended species, a quantity statement, the guaranteed analysis in the pet food order, the ingredient statement, and the guarantor's name and address. A product prominently identified as a snack or treat on the principal display panel needs no nutritional adequacy statement.
Renew both sides on their own calendars
The license renews by June 30 for the year that starts July 1. Product registrations renew by January 1 for the calendar year. The two due dates are six months apart, and the late charges are separate: $25 on the license after July 31, and late status on the products after January 31.
Registration reaches a pet food distributed in Missouri exclusively in packages of ten pounds or less. A recipe also sold above ten pounds leaves registration and pays tonnage on every size, at $0.14 per ton with a $5 minimum per quarter. The same recipe sold in a two pound bag and a six pound bag stays inside registration.
2 CSR 70-30.010(3) takes raw meat outside commercial feed only when it is not mixed or intermixed with other materials and not adulterated, and a raw product sold as dog food or dog treats is a commercial feed by its own claim. See the note below on the word ground in that rule.
The Missouri license and registration cover distribution in or into Missouri. Every other state runs its own feed law with its own instrument and its own fee, and AAFCO states that shipping product into a state in response to an internet purchase counts as distribution there.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.165 exempts only a person making retail sales of commercial feed that carries the label of a licensed manufacturer, guarantor or distributor who has assumed responsibility for the inspection fee. A maker who labels their own treats is inside the license whatever the channel, and the department's guide says the license applies to production in the maker's own home as much as in a commercial facility.
The department treats rawhides and bones as exempt from registration and from the state labeling requirements unless the label or advertising lists feed ingredients or claims nutritional value. That is the department's working line, drawn in its guide rather than in the statute or the rules, so keep the guide with your file and do not put an ingredient list or a nutrition claim on a chew you are treating as exempt.
| Item | What Missouri says | Cite |
|---|---|---|
| Required label items | YesProduct and brand name required (Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.170(1)); species designation required as the intended species (MDA guide item 2, 2 CSR 70-31.020(11)); quantity statement required (MDA guide item 8); guaranteed analysis required in the fixed pet food order (266.170(1)(b), 2 CSR 70-31.020(3)); ingredient statement required (MDA guide item 5); nutritional adequacy statement required except on a product prominently identified as a snack or treat (2 CSR 70-31.020(15)); feeding directions required only for dog and cat foods labeled as complete and balanced (2 CSR 70-31.020(17)), which a plain treat is not, although the MDA guide lists feeding directions without that condition; calorie content required as MDA guide item 4; guarantor name and principal mailing address required (266.170(1)); precautionary statements required with directions for use where the general feed label rules require them | MDA "Guide to Making and Selling Pet Food & Pet Treats", Pet Food Label Contents slide |
| Guaranteed analysis | YesA guaranteed analysis is required on every commercial feed label (Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.170(1)(b)); on a pet food label the guarantees run in the order crude protein minimum, crude fat minimum, crude fiber maximum, moisture maximum (2 CSR 70-31.020(3)) | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 266.170(1)(b) (Labels) |
| What a treat is excused from | DependsA dog or cat food prominently identified as a snack or treat, as part of the designation required on the principal display panel by 2 CSR 70-31.020(11), needs no AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement (2 CSR 70-31.020(15)) and, not being labeled complete and balanced, owes no feeding directions either (2 CSR 70-31.020(17)); separately, MDA treats rawhides and bones as outside the state labeling requirements altogether unless the label or advertising lists feed ingredients or claims nutritional value | 2 CSR 70-31.020(15) (Pet Food Label Format and Labeling), first physical line of the three-column reprint |
| AAFCO text adopted | Yes2 CSR 70-30.010(1) adopts the AAFCO official definitions of feed ingredients and 2 CSR 70-30.015(1) adopts the annual AAFCO publication; no AAFCO Official Publication of any year is in the snapshot | 2 CSR 70-30.010(1) (Definitions and Terms), first physical line of the three-column reprint |
| AAFCO edition | YesTwo references, a fixed 1995 AAFCO Official Publication incorporated by reference into the pet food labeling rule (2 CSR 70-31.020) and a rolling annual AAFCO publication for feed terms (2 CSR 70-30.015); neither publication is in the snapshot | 2 CSR 70-31.020, Editor's Note, material incorporated by reference (transcribed as printed, including the "Officials Publication" typographical error) |
The full item list, both AAFCO editions and the exceptions are in the label guide, and the laboratory side of the guarantees is in where to get a guaranteed analysis.
Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.165 reaches a person who distributes commercial feed in or into Missouri and a person whose name appears on the label as guarantor, wherever located, so an out-of-state maker shipping to Missouri buyers takes the Missouri license and, for small packages, the Missouri registration. The same logic points the other way when you ship out of Missouri: the destination state's feed law applies there.
A home kitchen is outside FDA facility registration.
Facility means any establishment, structure, or structures under one ownership at one general physical location, or, in the case of a mobile facility, traveling to multiple locations, that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food for consumption in the United States. [...] The private residence of an individual is not a facility.
Federal package rules still apply to every bag you sell.
Ingredients required to be declared on the label of a food [...] shall be listed by common or usual name in descending order of predominance by weight on either the principal display panel or the information panel in accordance with the provisions of § 501.2 .
Your state label rules come from an AAFCO model, not from FDA.
Pet food labeling is regulated at two levels. The current FDA regulations require proper identification of the product, net quantity statement, name, and place of business of the manufacturer or distributor, and proper listing of all the ingredients in the product from most to least, based on weight. Some states also enforce their own labeling regulations.
2 CSR 70-30.010(3) exempts raw meat and other listed materials from commercial feed when ground and not mixed with other materials. Iowa, Indiana, Georgia and Ohio print the opposite condition, unground, in the same model clause, and Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.160 imposes no grind condition at all. We read the Missouri word as a typographic divergence from the model and do not treat grinding as a way out of the license.
2 CSR 70-31.020 incorporates the 1995 AAFCO Official Publication by reference and its print edition is dated 5/31/98, while 2 CSR 70-30.015 adopts the rolling annual AAFCO publication for feed terms. Neither publication is in the snapshot, so where the two editions differ on a label item, ask the department which one it enforces.
The record for Missouri carries 10 recorded gaps and 12 staleness flags from the reading pass. Those are about the documents, not about your product.
2 CSR 70-30.110 and Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.212 allow an administrative penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each serious violation. A knowing or reckless violation is also a misdemeanor under 266.210, whose fine range sits in the general Missouri sentencing sections that we did not read. A tonnage report postmarked after the fifteenth of the following month carries 20 percent of the amount due or $5, whichever is greater.
A sales tax permit comes from the revenue side of the state and lets you collect tax. It is not a feed instrument and no feed office issues it.
A business entity filing or a trading name registration comes from the secretary of state or the county. It records who you are. It says nothing about feed.
A local food handler card or a home kitchen permit belongs to the human food regime. Services that bundle these three and call the bundle a license are selling you paperwork you may well need, but not the instrument on this page.
The Missouri text we read gives no route around it. Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.165 licenses anyone who manufactures commercial feed in the state, distributes it in or into the state or is named on the label as guarantor, pet food is a class of commercial feed under 266.160, and the department's guide to making and selling pet food and pet treats says the license applies to production in your own home as much as in a commercial facility.
No. Missouri's home-based kitchen food production law reaches food for human consumption, and the state's guidance on it answers in its own FAQ that pet foods and treats do not fall under the law and are regulated by the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Dog treats take the Commercial Feed License and the product registration instead.
Yes, the same one. The license attaches to manufacturing, distributing or labeling commercial feed in or into Missouri, not to the channel. A marketplace listing, your own site and a market table all count. Shipping into other states adds their feed laws on top, and a buyer's state may want a license or registration of its own.
The Commercial Feed License is $35 per year. Each pet food product sold only in packages of ten pounds or less is $90 per product per year, or $25 per product where the company's gross annual sales do not exceed $5,000 and the department approves the lower rate. Three flavors at the standard rate is $35 plus $270, which is $305 in the first year.
Yes, where the product is sold in Missouri only in packages of ten pounds or less. Mo. Rev. Stat. 266.190.1(5) registers each such product at $90 per year, and a paper copy of each label goes in with the Product Registration Listing. The department treats rawhides and bones as exempt from registration unless the label lists ingredients or claims nutritional value.
The product and brand name, the intended species, a quantity statement, the guaranteed analysis in the order crude protein minimum, crude fat minimum, crude fiber maximum and moisture maximum, the ingredient statement, and the guarantor's name and address. A product prominently identified as a snack or treat on the principal display panel needs no nutritional adequacy statement and, not being labeled complete and balanced, no feeding directions. Everything else still applies.
Statute: yes: Mo. Rev. Stat. ch. 266 (Missouri Commercial Feed Law), Secs. 266.152 to 266.220. Rules: yes: 2 CSR 70-30 (Feeds), rules 70-30.010 to 70-30.115, and 2 CSR 70-31 (Pet Food), rules 70-31.010 to 70-31.090. Agency: yes: Missouri Department of Agriculture, Feed & Seed Program (program page).
Snapshot read and adjudicated September 7, 2026, record date 2026-09-07. 38 recorded facts for Missouri.
DogTreatLicense is an informational reference about state commercial feed laws as they apply to people who make and sell pet treats in the United States. It reprints instrument names, fees, thresholds, label items and citations from state statutes, rules, fee schedules and agency forms, together with the date each state was last verified. Nothing on this site is legal advice, and fees and rules change. Confirm with the state feed control office before you register or sell.
Read the terms before you rely on any figure here.