February 17, 2021 | Montpelier, VT - The Vermont Hemp Program increasingly finds that Vermont hemp grower registrants are doing more than growing crops. Vermont hemp growers may also add value to hemp produced for cannabinoids by trimming flower for package and sale, or extracting cannabinoids from flowers to make topicals or other products. Trimmed flower is easily processed on-farm with minimal investment in infrastructure and an individual creating value-added hemp products, such as trimmed flower, from the crops they produce must register as a processor with the Vermont Hemp Program.
An individual may register as both a grower and a processor online at vermont.hemp.gov but must decide the scope of activities they will perform in the calendar year of registration, and answer “yes” and/or “no” to three questions at the beginning of the registration application. The first question addresses whether you are growing hemp only for personal use. Answering “no” to this question means you are registering with the Hemp Program for commercial purposes.
“Will you be growing under this registration?” and “Will you be processing under this registration?”
Answering “yes” to both of the above questions directs the user to an application to register as both a grower and a processor. The applicant must identify at the time of registration all location(s) where hemp will be grown, handled, stored, and processed. The cost to register as a combined grower/processor is tiered and “is the greater of the number of acres planted or the dry weight of the hemp crop or viable seed processed annually.” [6 V.S.A. §570].
A registrant may amend their registration, after first contacting the Hemp Program, to increase the size of a cultivation area, change the location of a field or processing site. A registrant is not able to add an activity, processing or growing, after the Program issues a registration for a singular activity. If a registrant failed to register for an activity, please contact the Hemp Program, AGR.Hemp@vermont.gov to discuss next steps.
For more information about what constitutes growing or processing, please visit the Hemp Programs Resources and Guidance page, https://agriculture.vermont.gov/public-health-agricultural-resource-management-division/hemp-program/hemp-resources-and-guidance.
Direct general questions about registration to Hemp Program Inspector, Mike DiTomasso, Michael.ditomasso@vermont.gov (802) 505-3726, or Stephanie Smith, stephanie.smith@vermont.gov, (802) 661-8051.