Photo Courtesy of Kevin Coughlin/Office of the Governor
“This initiative will create meaningful opportunities for economic empowerment for New York farmers and impacted communities,” Gov. Hochul said.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday announced the opening of the web-based application portal for hemp farmers seeking to obtain a conditional license to grow adult-use cannabis in the 2022 growing season. The license was made possible by a law Hochul signed last month.
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 cultivation 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 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 December 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 guidance before applying.
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.
On Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams noted that building an equitable cannabis industry from the ground up, by offering financial support and technical assistance to help entrepreneurs launch their businesses and launching a broad-based community engagement effort to make New Yorkers aware of opportunities to participate in the industry will be a crucial part of his “Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent: A Blueprint for New York City’s Economic Recovery.”
“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 application portal is located at: businessexpress.ny.gov/app/answers/cms/a_id/3819/kw/ocmconditional.
