Snowpack & Hemp Licenses

Snowpack & Hemp Licenses

Snowpack & Hemp Licenses. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for licenses to grow and handle industrial hemp for the 2016 growing season and beginning this year those will be issued on an annual basis instead of the previous 3-years. ODA has adopted a temporary administrative rule to modify the license and permit following changes to Oregon's industrial hemp law by the 2015 legislature. In addition to a license for growing or handling industrial hemp, a permit is needed for those wishing to produce or handle agricultural hemp seed. ODA issued 11 licenses to growers of industrial hemp in 2015, the first year of its Industrial Hemp Program.

This may be worth celebrating...despite some slightly above normal temperatures in January, the snowpack in the Cascades was above normal and unless there is some significant warming trend that impacts snow melt the outlook is good for the 2016 growing season. NRCS meteorologist, Scott Pattee says that while this is good news:

PATTEE: I guess what is anticipated because of this El Nino being locked in, really the anticipation is that we're probably going to end up the season, and that's about April 1, probably a little below normal just because we're going to start getting into a little bit warmer weather and that's what's going to be the gauge is what the temperature is going to be.

All-in-all, the state is ahead on precipitation and water storage is above average in many locales.

That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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