Wary of Cost, Humboldt Supes Reject Hemp Proposal

Small-scale hemp cultivation is seen as a way to expand economic opportunity for cannabis farmers, but Humboldt County’s Board of Supervisors has turned down a request to launch a hemp pilot program due to its costs.

Two other actions — allowing monofilament netting and indoor cultivation in structures built after 2016 — were approved at the Jan. 6 supervisors meeting.

The Humboldt County Growers Alliance (HGA) asked the county to approve a hemp pilot program that would allow permitting of up to 5,000 square feet of hemp cultivation. The county approved a moratorium on hemp growing in 2019 due to concerns about cross-pollination and enforcement costs. Cross-pollination, however, is not considered an issue with cultivation areas as small as those proposed for the pilot program.

Planning Director John Ford said, “The first thought is anything that can be done to help the cannabis community, particularly the small farmers, sounds like a good idea, as we want to support the industry and it seems innocuous,” but added that cost remains an issue.

Ford said the county would need to backfill the Agricultural Commissioner’s Office to accommodate the program and equip it with the ability to test hemp to determine that it is hemp and not high-THC cannabis.

Ross Gordon of HGA said hemp cultivation would “open the opportunity to participate in a federally legal market where there’s commerce which can legally happen across state lines and where there’s not the impediments that cannabis farmers face operating under federal prohibition.”

Enforcement issues, Gordon said, “can be mitigated” through permit standards, unlike hemp growing that has occurred elsewhere under programs that “really operated on an unlimited scale without any tie to cannabis permitting.”

Gordon also noted that at the federal level, “a more rational legal scheme” is developing, with changes to federal hemp law set to go into effect in November 2026.

“So I think looking backwards to what has been is not necessarily what’s going to be in the future,” Gordon said. “And I think there is opportunity to exploring this if it’s small scale and if it’s something that we all agree can be administered.”

Other public comment speakers echoed that hemp farming would have a narrow scope, limiting costs and impacts while adding income potential.

“This is really about providing economic opportunities for our farmers and for the county itself,” said Indy Riggs of Galactic Farms.

But with changes in federal law upcoming, supervisors hesitated to open the door for hemp cultivation.

“I’m willing to go with staff’s recommendation on this, only to hold off to see what’s coming from the federal government in terms of the changes,” said Board Chair Mike Wilson. “I just want to be cautious about that.”

Supervisor Natalie Arroyo said hemp is “something that we’re not resourced for right now,” but may be reconsidered “if circumstances change on the federal level and it seems much more promising to explore.”

The board voted to keep the moratorium in place and reject HGA’s pilot program request.

However, two other changes were approved.

A ban on monofilament netting — whose improper storage and disposal has raised concerns — was lifted, and its use will now be allowed under permit performance standards.

Another ban, on indoor cannabis cultivation in buildings constructed after 2016, was also lifted. The ban had been put in place before the industry’s decline amid concerns about construction in agricultural areas, but staff and supervisors agreed those issues can now be addressed through permitting conditions.

Another potential action — changing cultivation limits in watershed areas — was discussed. Supervisor Michelle Bushnell said she would like the county to “consider opening up cultivation in impacted watersheds,” noting that farmers in those areas want to expand permits but are not allowed to under current rules.

“With the amount of farms that are failing, I think that we should look at whether it could be acceptable to allow farms to expand if they want to, with the decline in cultivation in those impacted watersheds,” Bushnell said.

Ford said planning staff “will investigate the ability to reopen the watersheds and if not, we will bring a report back, and if so, we will bring back a modification to the resolution.”