Ohio Department of Agriculture now accepting applications for hemp licenses

The Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Hemp Program recently announced that it is now accepting applications for hemp licenses for cultivators and processors. 

The Ohio Department of Agriculture’s regulations for hemp cultivators and processors went into effect on January 29, 2020. The application period for cultivators will be November 1–March 31, however, since this is the first year of the program, the application period has been extended to May 1.

Regulations cover a wide variety of areas such as land use, harvesting, sampling, testing, reporting, and pesticide and fertilizer use. In addition to navigating the regulations to cultivate and process hemp, other considerations for cultivators and processors include insurance, contracting, employment and legal structuring of your business entity.