New York opens license application portal for hemp farmers

ALBANY | New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has announced the opening of the web-based application portal for hemp farmers wishing to obtain a conditional license to grow adult-use cannabis in the 2022 growing season. The license was made possible by a law the governor signed last month. "New York is moving full speed ahead to create the most inclusive adult-use cannabis industry in the nation through our Seeding Opportunity Initiative," Hochul said. "This initiative will create meaningful opportunities for economic empowerment for New York farmers and impacted communities. Now that our application portal is open, I encourage every eligible New York farmer to participate in the farm-to-sale pipeline that will create jobs and opportunity throughout the Empire State." The opening of the application portal for the license advances the governor's first-in-the-nation Seeding Opportunity Initiative, which positions individuals with prior cannabis-related criminal offenses to make the first adult-use cannabis sales with products grown by New York hemp farmers. This farm-to-store initiative is making sales in New York possible before the end of 2022, jumpstarting New York's cannabis industry, guaranteeing support for future equity applicants, and securing an early investment into communities most impacted by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition. Under the law, conditionally licensed cannabis farmers must meet certain requirements, including safe, sustainable, and environmentally friendly cultivation practices; participation in a social equity mentorship program; and enter into a labor peace agreement with a bona fide labor organization. The portal opened today by the New York State Office of Cannabis Management allows hemp farmers seeking an Adult-use Cannabis Conditional Cultivator License to apply with ease. With a conditional adult-use cannabis cultivator license, farmers can grow outdoors or in a greenhouse for up to two years from the issuance of the license. It also allows them to manufacture and distribute cannabis flower products without holding an adult-use processor or distributor license, until June 1, 2023. Cultivators are limited to one acre (43,560 square feet) of flowering canopy outdoors or 25,000 square feet in a greenhouse and can use up to 20 artificial lights. They can also split between outdoor and greenhouse grows with a maximum total canopy of 30,000 square feet, as long as the greenhouse flowering canopy remains under 20,000 square feet. To qualify for an Adult-use Cannabis Conditional Cultivator License, an applicant must have been an authorized industrial hemp research partner for the Department of Agriculture and Markets, cultivating hemp for its non-intoxicating cannabinoid content for at least two of the past four years and in good standing as of Dec. 31, 2021, when the research program ended. Farmers who apply will pay a non-refundable $2,000 application and licensing fee, and applicants are strongly encouraged to read the program guidelines before applying: cannabis.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/03/adult-use_conditional_cultivator_guidance_031422.pdf. Holders of the license must also participate in a social equity mentorship program where they provide training in cannabis cultivation and processing for social and economic equity partners, preparing them for potential roles in the industry. Growers will also have to meet sustainability requirements to ensure the cannabis is grown in an environmentally conscientious way. Hochul's Seeding Opportunity Initiative, announced March 10, is a national model for building an adult-use cannabis industry that starts by delivering on the promise to offset the harms on communities across the state that were most impacted by the disproportionate enforcement of cannabis prohibition. Through the Seeding Opportunity Initiative, New York farmers are growing the first adult-use cannabis. Justice-involved, successful business owners will make the first sales with support from the governor's proposed $200 million New York Social Equity Cannabis Investment Program, funded by licensing fees and private equity. Currently being discussed with the Legislature, the program would use industry-licensing fees and private equity to provide funding to equity-entrepreneurs at the front-end of the adult-use market. Specifically, these justice-involved, successful business owners would be supported with renovated or renovation-ready retail locations and wraparound services with dispensaries sited in high-traffic areas.

Signup for our newsletter

New York opens license application portal for hemp farmers

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS