Hemp production regulations in California vary from county to county. Some counties in California are adamantly against hemp production, while others are in the process of allowing the growth of the hemp crop or have already approved the farmers to grow the crop.
Because of its fertile soil and climatic conditions that allow the state to have year-round cultivation, California is predicted to be the future capital of hemp production. However, making it the responsibility of the agricultural commissioner at the county level to pass hemp cultivation ordinances in each of the 58 counties has resulted in other states in the U.S surpassing California in legalizing hemp production. However, in April, the Department of Agriculture in California gave the go-ahead for the hemp growers to be issued with licenses.
The department of food and agriculture in California updated their hemp production record in august with 23 counties growing hemp, 258 hemp farmers, 34 hemp seed breeders, and 16,899 registered hemp growing acres.
By examining the status of hemp growth in other counties through the local reports and agricultural commissioners in the counties, Hemp Daily found that two of the 23 counties licensed for hemp growth have county-wide moratoriums expiring in 2020. The two counties are Shasta County and San Luis Obispo; the numbers of licensed hemp growers are 16, and those approved to grow hemp for research purposes are nine.
Hemp Daily also found that in 16 counties, hemp production is not prohibited, and eight of those have passed the ordinances for production, although they are yet to start hemp cultivation. In Santa Barbara, hemp is only grown for research purposes.
A temporary moratorium is in place in seven counties, and the board of supervisors can decide to extend the moratorium for 22 months and 15 days. Moreover, production has been banned until 2020 in seven counties, including Santa Clara, while the ban has been extended until 2021 in four counties.
Some municipalities are going against the county regulations by developing their own hemp business rules. For instance, Shasta Lake City has rebelled against the Shasta County moratorium by issuing licenses to farmers within the city limits. To give the city time to come up with regulations, Pittsburg City located in Contra Costa County passed a 2-year moratorium on hemp production in June. This is against the Contra Costa County which does not have any ordinances or regulations.
On the desk of California Gov. Gavin Newsom is a measure seeking to revise the laws regulating hemp production and testing so that the local governments no longer have the power to do as they want with the industrial hemp, which includes banning it.
Experts believe that hemp industry actors like Organigram Holdings Inc. (TSX: OGI) (NASDAQ: OGI) and Neutra Corp. (OTCQB: NTRR) must be thinking that the California state lawmakers haven’t learned any lessons from the problems arising out of giving local authorities a lot of power over the marijuana industry, and the same problems are now manifesting in the hemp sector.
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