Until 2023, California cannabis farmers will not be allowed to grow more than 1 acre of marijuana, regardless of whether they are allowed to do so at the local level, according to an environmental review of proposed state regulations released this week.
Some in the industry are lauding this restriction as a way to protect small farmers over larger corporate mega-grows.
“I know this is going to be very difficult, costly and painful for some producers,” California Growers Association Executive Director Hezekiah Allen said Wednesday, “but when you look at the big picture and the entirety of the state of California or even bigger with the national cannabis reform movement, this is a very prudent decision to have been made.”
Others like Honeydew Farms LLC owners Alex and Miranda Moore of Ferndale, who have already been permitted to farm more than 1 acre, now find themselves potentially having to completely overhaul their business plan just six weeks before the statewide marijuana market opener in January.
The couple has more than 6 acres of medical cannabis cultivation that has been permitted by Humboldt County and are already about a year-and-a-half into their operations.
“It’s frustrating,” Alex Moore said Wednesday. “Ultimately, I’m staying positive. If Honeydew Farms has farms for our company and ends up being landlords with the rest and leasing to other companies then so be it.
“There is no other option. There is no going back,” he continued with a laugh.
STATE VS. LOCAL RULES
The Moores were one of the first farms in Humboldt County and likely the state to receive a county permit for a medical cannabis farm back in July 2016. At the time, the state’s medical marijuana laws under the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act were the only rules in place and included a license type that allowed up to 4 acres of cultivation.
However, after the passage of the recreational marijuana legalization measure Proposition 64 later that year and the state Legislature’s merging of the medical and recreational laws this year through Senate Bill 94, this 4-acre allowance did not make the cut.
“To just dump that and have us or how many others there are like us that have invested a lot into infrastructure and building a company and then to say, ‘We changed that, sorry,’ it’s kind of ridiculous,” Alex Moore said.
The 1-acre grow limit was released this week as part of the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s environmental review of the state’s revised cannabis cultivation rules. These revised rules are expected to be released Thursday along with others regulating testing, licensing and other aspects of the industry.
In order to be a legal cannabis grower in the state, a person must have both a state license and a local permit.
If the 1-acre limit is adopted, it would conflict with Humboldt County’s efforts to expand its cannabis industry, with the county’s draft ordinance currently allowing for grows larger than 1 acre.
Despite this, county Planning and Building Department Director John Ford said he does not expect the county will change its ordinance.
“We’re trying to maintain a completely separate kind of path that is independent, but not in conflict,” Ford said Wednesday.
So while the Moores might be permitted to cultivate 4 acres of cannabis at the local level, the state will only license 1 acre of that. That means the other acres will either have to be leased out to other people or sold, Ford said — at least until 2023.
“That doesn’t mean the permits that we have issued are invalid,” Ford said.
WHY ONE ACRE?
Allen and others have said the 1-acre limitation is not a surprise, especially after Senate Bill 94 did not include the 4-acre cultivation allowance.
“I have, at times, been critical of the speculators who are promoting the green rush,” Allen said Wednesday. “There was some willful ignorance here where they read what they wanted to in the law. They wanted to go big and want to go industrial. Our read of the law has always been clear that the limit is one acre.”
Allen said that it goes against the state’s interests to allow for farms larger than one acre.
“Consolidating the marketplace runs counter to the public safety and environmental goals that the state is trying to achieve,” he said. “… The [environmental impact report] is very clear in one of the preceding sections that oversupply is a problem. If the state of California has too much product, it’s likely to drive people back into the unregulated market.”
Allen said that while they supported the 4-acre allowance under the old rules, the association also supports the one-acre limit.
“At this point, it is very unlikely that four-acre allowance will be coming back,” Allen said. “The response that I’m hearing from our membership and organization is this is probably the most prudent, responsible and impactful policy decision that has been made to cannabis to date.”
This reporter’s attempts to contact the Department of Food and Agriculture press office were not returned by Wednesday afternoon.
California’s cannabis laws under Senate Bill 94 prohibits the state from issuing licenses for farms larger than 1 acre before Jan. 1, 2023. While some may celebrate the limitation as a win for small farmers, Alex Moore said he doesn’t think it will change much and will only delay the influx of larger farms.
“I see it as mega corporations are going to own these huge greenhouse facilities and lease square footage to different businesses regardless of how many businesses there are [in the statewide market],” he said. “There will be more companies out there, but I don’t think it will cap the amount of cannabis that will be produced. It means more people will hold those licenses. Then that’s only for five years.”
Alex Moore said that the state should make an exception for farms like his, which were following existing state laws at the time they were permitted.
“This whole industry is a roller coaster ride right now. That route might change,” he said. “We’re going to be riding the roller coaster, and whatever changes happen, we’ll absorb them and that will be that.”
credit:420intel.com