How to Register a Tree Care Business in Minnesota

Last updated: October 2, 2026

Minnesota does not license arborists, but it does require every tree care business to register. Under Minnesota Statutes chapter 18G.07, all companies and persons who provide tree care or tree trimming, or who remove trees, limbs, branches, brush or shrubs for hire, must register with the Department of Agriculture. It costs $30 a year. And the Department is unusually candid about what that $30 buys: the registry does not verify insurance, bonding, workers compensation, good business practices, or tree care knowledge.

What Minnesota Actually Requires

• ★ Registration in the Tree Care Registry under Minnesota Statutes chapter 18G.07 — required of all companies and persons that provide tree care or tree trimming services and/or who remove trees, limbs, branches, brush or shrubs for hire.
• It covers everyone: public, private and governmental entities alike. A one-person removal business is inside it.
• $25 plus a $5 processing surcharge — $30 for registration and for each annual renewal.
• Effective until 31 December of the current year, so the term is a calendar year rather than twelve months from purchase.
• A certificate of registration, which is what you hold out as proof of registered status.
• No state arborist license — this is a registry, not a licensing scheme, and ISA certification is voluntary at state level.
• A pesticide applicator license from the Department of Agriculture if you treat trees — the business is licensed and then individual employees are licensed.
• City licensing where it applies. Minneapolis operates its own tree service license; check every city you intend to work in, because these are set locally.

What It Costs

Item	Cost	Notes
Tree Care Registry	$30	$25 plus a $5 processing surcharge; the same on annual renewal
Registration term	To 31 December	A calendar year, not twelve months — register late and you pay again sooner
State arborist license	Does not exist	Minnesota registers tree care businesses; it does not license arborists
Pesticide applicator licensing	See MDA schedule	Business licensed first, then individual employees
City tree service license	Varies	Minneapolis licenses separately; other cities may too
Insurance	Not verified by the registry	The Department states the registry does not verify insurance, bonding or workers compensation
Minnesota LLC	$155	Articles of organization filed online or in person; $135 by mail

Coming From Another State

Is there an arborist license to transfer into Minnesota?

No — Minnesota does not license arborists, which is the point made above: being registered is not the same as being vetted, and the state says as much itself. Your ISA Certified Arborist credential comes from the International Society of Arboriculture rather than a state, so it moves with you and remains the credential that actually signals competence here.

The state credential that transfers is the pesticide applicator license, and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture runs a clearly published reciprocity route for it.

Pesticide applicator reciprocity: 18 states, no additional testing

Reciprocity lets licensed or certified persons who are not residents of Minnesota apply for a Minnesota Pesticide Applicator license without additional testing, where comparable categories exist. Note both conditions — non-residency, and a comparable category. A category Minnesota does not recognize as comparable will not come across regardless of the agreement.

MDA has reciprocal agreements with:

• Adjacent states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin.
• Others: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.

What you file: a signed Reciprocal Acknowledgment form confirming you have read and are aware of the provisions of the Minnesota Pesticide Control Law — it must be signed by the applicator personally — together with a new MDA application form, a copy of your resident state certification and licensure showing use categories, and a legible copy of a driver’s license or other document showing your state of residency. Application and surcharge fees are non-transferable and nonrefundable.

The trap: what happens when you actually move

Reciprocity is a route for non-residents, and Minnesota closes it behind you if you relocate.

An applicator who obtained their license through reciprocity and then moves to Minnesota must complete an MDA-approved workshop before renewing that license. Miss it, and renewal requires taking the license exams for all requested categories and paying a retest fee.

So the sequence matters enormously. Coming across the border for work while living elsewhere, reciprocity is straightforward. Relocating to Minnesota and expecting the reciprocal license to roll forward untouched is how people end up sitting a full set of exams they thought they had avoided. If a move is in your plans, book the workshop before your first Minnesota renewal, not after.

Registered Is Not Vetted — and Minnesota Says So Itself

Minnesota occupies an unusual middle ground. It is not one of the states that shrugs at tree work, and it is not one that licenses arborists. It registers them, and it is refreshingly honest about the difference.

The requirement is broad and it has no size threshold. Chapter 18G.07 reaches all companies and persons that provide tree care or tree trimming services and/or who remove trees, limbs, branches, brush or shrubs for hire, across public, private and governmental entities. There is no dollar floor, no employee count, no exemption for weekend work. If you take money to cut a branch, you are inside it. That is a wider net than the contractor thresholds used in Arizona, Virginia or Washington, where small jobs fall outside the rules entirely.

What it costs is trivial. $25 plus a $5 processing surcharge, renewed annually on the same terms, and effective until 31 December of the current year. Note the calendar-year term rather than a rolling twelve months: registering in the fall buys you a short period and an early renewal, which is worth timing if you are starting out.

And then there is the sentence that ought to shape how you use it. The Department of Agriculture states that “this Registry does not verify insurance, bonding, workman compensation, good business practices, or tree care knowledge.” It is rare for a regulator to tell you this plainly what its own scheme is not. Registration means a business exists, paid $30, and can be looked up. It is not a competence check, not proof of insurance, and not a quality signal.

That cuts two ways, and both matter commercially. For you as an operator, it means registration will never prompt you to get insured — nothing in the annual cycle asks, so the decision is entirely yours and easy to postpone indefinitely. For you as a competitor, it means “registered with the state” is worth very little as a marketing claim, because every rival has it for $30 and customers who read the Department’s own guidance will know exactly what it does not mean. The differentiator in Minnesota is not registration — it is being able to show the certificate of liability that the registry pointedly does not check.

Two other layers sit on top. If you treat trees, Minnesota licenses pesticide application in two steps — the business is licensed first, then individual employees are licensed — which is the same person-and-company pattern used in Michigan and Ohio. And cities license separately: Minneapolis runs its own tree service license with its own conditions. Because those are municipal, they vary from city to city and change on their own timetable, so confirm requirements with each city you work in rather than assuming the state registration is the whole picture.

How to Get Licensed, In Order

1. Register with the Department of Agriculture before you take paid work — 18G.07 has no size threshold, so there is no small-job exemption to rely on.
2. Pay the $25 plus $5 surcharge and note that the term runs to 31 December, not twelve months out.
3. Time your first registration deliberately if you are starting late in the year, because renewal comes round on 1 January regardless.
4. Do not treat registration as insurance. The registry verifies neither cover nor competence, and says so.
5. Arrange liability cover on your own initiative — nothing in the state process will ask you for it.
6. If you will treat trees, license the business first, then the individual employees.
7. Check the cities you work in — Minneapolis licenses tree services separately, and other cities may.
8. Register the business entity so the registration, the insurance certificate and the bank account sit behind one company.

Staying Licensed

The Tree Care Registry runs on the calendar year and is effective until 31 December, with renewal at the same $25 plus $5 surcharge. Because the term is fixed rather than rolling, the renewal date does not move with when you first registered — diary 1 January rather than an anniversary. Nothing in that renewal will ask about your insurance, your bonding or your workers compensation, because the Department has been explicit that the registry does not verify any of them, so treat your annual insurance review as a separate obligation you set yourself. If you hold a pesticide license, both the business license and the individual employee licenses run on their own cycles with the Department of Agriculture. And city licenses — Minneapolis among them — renew on municipal schedules that have nothing to do with the state registry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to register a tree care business in Minnesota?

Yes. Minnesota Statutes chapter 18G.07 requires all companies and persons that provide tree care or tree trimming services and/or who remove trees, limbs, branches, brush or shrubs for hire to register with the Department of Agriculture. It applies to public, private and governmental entities, so a one-person removal business is inside it.

How much does the Minnesota Tree Care Registry cost?

$25 plus a $5 processing surcharge, so $30, and the same for annual renewals. Registration is effective until December 31 of the current year, which means a registration bought in November is a short one.

Does Minnesota registration mean a tree service is qualified?

No, and the Department says so directly: the registry does not verify insurance, bonding, workman compensation, good business practices, or tree care knowledge. Registration proves a company took a step and paid $30. It is not a competence check, and it is not evidence that anyone is insured — including you.

Does Minnesota have an arborist license?

Not in the sense of a licensed trade with exams and qualifications. What the state operates is a registry rather than a licensing scheme, and ISA certification remains voluntary at state level. Individual cities license separately — Minneapolis operates its own tree service license — so check every city you work in.

Tree work sits alongside our full guide to starting a landscaping business in Minnesota, and the wider guide to starting a business in Minnesota. Or see how every state handles tree work in our arborist license requirements by state guide.

Can you transfer an out-of-state pesticide license to Minnesota for tree work?

Yes, if you are not a Minnesota resident and a comparable category exists. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has reciprocal agreements with North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin, plus Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming. You file a signed Reciprocal Acknowledgment form, a new MDA application, a copy of your resident state certification showing use categories, and proof of residency.

What happens to a Minnesota reciprocal pesticide license if you move to Minnesota?

You must complete an MDA-approved workshop before renewing it. If you do not attend an approved workshop, renewal requires taking the license exams for all requested categories and paying a retest fee. Reciprocity is a non-resident route, so relocating changes what renewal demands of you — book the workshop before your first Minnesota renewal.

Sources

Source	What It Covers
Minnesota Department of Agriculture — Tree Care Registry	Who must register under Minnesota Statutes chapter 18G.07, the $25 plus $5 surcharge, the 31 December term, the certificate of registration, and the Department’s statement that the registry does not verify insurance, bonding, workman compensation, good business practices or tree care knowledge
Minnesota Department of Agriculture — checklist for hiring a tree care company	What the Department tells customers to check for themselves, including insurance the registry does not verify
Minnesota Tree Care Registry — state licensing portal	The registration record in the state license directory
Minnesota Secretary of State — articles of organization	The $155 online and in-person filing fee, $135 by mail
Minnesota Department of Agriculture — Pesticide Applicator Reciprocity	The reciprocal states, the non-residency and comparable-category conditions, the documents required, and the workshop requirement for reciprocal licensees who move to Minnesota
Minnesota Department of Agriculture — Pesticide Applicator Licensing	License types, categories and the underlying licensing requirements