On April 25, 2019, California’s Office of Administrative Law approved a $900.00 Annual Registration Fee for commercial growers of industrial hemp and seed breeders of hemp. The Regulation went into effect immediately. Registration applications were also released today and can be found on the California Industrial Hemp Program’s website.

California law requires growers of industrial hemp for commercial purposes and seed breeders of industrial hemp to register with their local County Agricultural Commissioner prior to the start of cultivation. Exempt from this registration requirement are established agricultural research institutions. Applicants will need to check with their individual County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office on whether there are any additional restrictions related to the cultivation of industrial hemp.

General application information will require a commercial grower and/or seed breeder to provide the following information:

  1. Application Form with name, physical address, and mailing address of the applicant.
  2. The legal description of the property.
  3. Global Positioning System coordinates.
  4. Maps of the land area on which the applicant plans to engage in industrial hemp cultivation, storage, or both.
  5. The approved seed cultivar to be grown, including the state or county of origin.
  6. Registration Fee in the amount of $900.00 each, for growers and seed breeders.

Text of the recently approved Regulation establishing a $900.00 Registration Fee is available here – https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/docs/IH-1/Certificate-of-Compliance-4900_HEMP.pdf

Currently, about 15 California Counties have implemented moratoriums on the cultivation of hemp in California – including the Counties of Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, Yolo and Calaveras Counties. In an effort to encourage economic development of hemp, Imperial County became the first county in the State of California to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the California Hemp Foundation and California Hemp Association. The County of San Diego’s Department of Agriculture, Weights & Measures (AWM) announced today that it will begin accepting applications. Registration forms were released on the State’s website today. Processing of Registrations is anticipated to take up to two weeks. All state registrations will be valid for one year and will need to be renewed annually.