There shall be a State Board of Agriculture and Industries composed of 11 members which shall consist of the Governor as ex officio chairman, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, the Director of the Cooperative Extension Service of Auburn University, the Administrative Head of Agriculture and Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station of Auburn University, four outstanding farmers and three outstanding leaders of industry.

The four farmer members and the three industry members shall be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate; provided, that no two of the farmer members shall reside in the same congressional district of the state; provided further, that no two of the industry members shall reside in the same congressional district of the state. The members of said State Board of Agriculture and Industries appointed by the Governor shall hold office for and only during the tenure of office of the Governor making the appointment and until their successors are appointed and qualified.

The Board of Agriculture and Industries is hereby authorized to acquire by purchase, donation, lease or condemnation, for and in the name of the State of Alabama a suitable site or sites accessible to highways and railroad and air terminal facilities and to erect and install thereon such structures, facilities and equipment as may be necessary for the inspection, grading, standardization, classification, refrigeration, dehydration (for both food and feed), canning, packing, processing, cold storage and marketing of agricultural products, including all staple food crops, fruits, vegetables, poultry, dairy products, fish and kindred products and to let or lease space and facilities in such markets for the storage of such products pending inspection, grading, packing, canning, processing, classification, refrigeration, dehydration (for both food and feed) and marketing of such products and to make such charges for such space, services and facilities as will cover the reasonable costs of operation and maintenance of such markets, equipment and facilities; provided that such charges shall not be made with a view to producing any revenue or profit to the State of Alabama or to the board but shall be based exclusively upon the reasonable cost of operation and maintenance and liquidation of costs of construction.

All collections of such charges shall be deposited monthly in the State Treasury to the credit of the Agricultural Fund, and shall be used for payment of the expenses of operation and maintenance and liquidation of costs of construction of such markets and facilities, upon requisition upon the State Comptroller, to be paid by the warrant of the Comptroller upon the Treasury. Any moneys remaining after payment of the above expenses may be used for the payment of principal and interest on any bonds issued for the purpose of construction of a farmers market facility, upon requisition upon the State Comptroller, to be paid by warrant of the Comptroller upon the State Treasury. Said collections received from operations of a farmers market facility are hereby appropriated for the above uses.

All surveying and engineering services in connection with the construction of roads, approaches and paving connected with such market or markets shall be furnished by and shall be rendered under the supervision of the Department of Transportation, without charge to the Board of Agriculture and Industries, and all labor for construction of such roads, approaches and paving shall be furnished without charge by the Alabama Department of Corrections.

The operation of any structure, facility, equipment or market as provided in this article shall be under the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. He is empowered to employ any necessary personnel for the efficient operation of said facilities or markets. At the discretion of the commissioner, one person for each market may be employed in the unclassified service.

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries is empowered and authorized, with the approval of the State Board of Agriculture and Industries, to promulgate and enforce such rules and regulations, as in the opinion of the commissioner, shall be necessary to carry out the purposes of this article. Any rules and regulations made and promulgated shall be posted in a conspicuous place at each structure, facility or market. When so promulgated and posted, such rules and regulations shall have the force and effect of law. Any person willfully violating the provisions of any rule or regulation after it has been promulgated and posted, as provided above, for over 30 days, shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.

To assist and advise the Board of Agriculture and Industries in carrying out its responsibilities prescribed in this article, there is hereby created the State Farmers' Market Committee, which shall consist of seven members as follows:

(1) The Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, or at his discretion, a full-time employee of the state Department of Agriculture and Industries.

(2) The Director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, or at his discretion, a full-time employee of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service.

(3) The President of the Alabama Farmers Federation or at his discretion, a full-time employee of the federation.

(4) One member to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Legislature of Alabama.

(5) One member to be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Alabama.

(6) Two members to be appointed by the Governor of Alabama. One member's primary occupation shall be the production of fresh fruits and vegetables and the other member's primary occupation shall be a wholesale or retail merchant of agricultural or agriculture related products.

Term of office of the respective members representing the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service, and the Alabama Farmers Federation shall be for the duration of the term of office of said Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries, the Director of the Cooperative Extension Service, and the President of the Alabama Farmers Federation. The first term of office of the members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House shall be for two years. The term of office of the two members appointed by the Governor shall be for four years. Any successive appointments of those members appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or the Speaker of the House shall be for a period of four years.

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries or his appointed representative shall serve as secretary to the committee and shall also preside as chairman until such time as a chairman can be routinely elected. The committee shall meet as often as necessary on call of the chairman. Members shall receive mileage, per diem, and subsistence as is provided by law for state boards, committees, and commissions for attending meetings of the committee. Provided, however, that the committee shall meet at least quarterly and the first meeting of the committee shall be within 30 days from the appointment of the committee members.

In the exercise of its functions, the committee shall make recommendations to the Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries as to the implementation and administration of the responsibilities of said department under this article, and conduct studies and compile information as deemed necessary as a basis for such recommendation. At the end of each fiscal year, a complete financial statement and report will be furnished by the Department of Agriculture and Industries to the committee. This report, along with a state of any market report from the committee shall be presented to the Governor.

The State Board of Agriculture and Industries shall hold its annual meetings each year at the office of the commissioner on the second Tuesday in November. Other regular meetings shall be held on the second Tuesdays in February, May and August. Special meetings may be held as the duties and business of the board may require. In case of the absence of the chairman, the board shall elect a temporary chairman. The rules generally adopted by deliberative bodies for their government shall be observed by the board. No motion or resolution shall be adopted without the concurrence of a majority of the whole board. The appointive members of the State Board of Agriculture and Industries shall receive a per diem of $50.00 per day, and their expenses incurred in attending meetings and transacting the business of the board shall be paid as provided in Article 2 of Chapter 7 of Title 36; provided, that they shall not draw such per diem for more than 20 days in any fiscal year. An ex officio or nonappointive member of the State Board of Agriculture and Industries may designate or appoint any member of his staff to attend meetings of the board when such ex officio member is unable to attend and such staff member so designated shall have full power and authority to vote for and on behalf of such ex officio member on any question that may come before the board.

It shall be the duty of the State Board of Agriculture and Industries to consider the agricultural and industrial needs of the state; to make and promulgate reasonable rules and regulations necessary to carry out the objects and purposes of the regulatory work required by law to be executed by the commissioner; to cooperate with all federal, state, county and municipal agencies in the enforcement of such regulatory work or police matters as relate to the duties of the commissioner; to cooperate with the Agricultural Experiment Station, the extension service of Auburn University and with all official agencies in promoting the interest of agriculture and industry in Alabama; to provide that the soil survey of Alabama and the necessary resurvey and revision of the soil survey work are completed and state soil survey maps and reports are printed for distribution and to discharge such other duties as are required by law.

The State Board of Agriculture and Industries is hereby authorized to call into consultation the heads of departments, professors or scientists of Auburn University and officers or specialists of the Alabama Agricultural Extension Service whenever it may be deemed advisable to secure technical, scientific or practical information relating to any of the subjects of this title. It shall be the duty of such heads of departments, professors or scientists of Auburn University and of the officers or specialists of the Alabama Agricultural Extension Service, when so requested by the State Board of Agriculture and Industries, to attend any meetings of the board and to furnish such information, facts and data in their possession as may be requested by the said board. The actual traveling expenses of such persons in attending such meeting may be paid from the Agricultural Fund.

The Attorney General shall be the legal advisor of the Department of Agriculture and Industries in matters relating to the powers and duties of the commissioner and State Board of Agriculture and Industries. It shall be the duty of any district attorney, when requested by the commissioner or his duly authorized agent, to investigate, institute and prosecute all violations of the laws of the state and rules and regulations of the State Board of Agriculture and Industries, and such district attorney shall, upon the request of the commissioner, institute and prosecute all necessary actions and proceedings which the commissioner is authorized to bring to enforce the laws of the state and rules and regulations of the State Board of Agriculture and Industries.