There’s a saying that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck. Applying that logic to cannabis cultivation, if it roots like a plant, grows like a plant and is harvested like a plant, then it must be a plant — unless it’s a marijuana plant!
Shawn DeNae
Washington Bud Company
Snohomish, Washington
Cities and counties all across the country are pooling resources to come up with ways to slow down or eliminate cannabis cultivation within their local jurisdictions. They are quickly redefining their agriculture codes to specifically exclude the cannabis plant as an agricultural crop. This not only affects if, where and how cannabis cultivation can take place, but also basics such as as whether the crop can qualify for water rights. When marijuana is reframed as “non-agricultural,” cannabis farmers lose all of the rights and protections afforded by right-to-farm legislation.
The most recent display of this type of action came out of Okanogan County, which had previously been one of Washington’s most cannabis-friendly counties. The low population density of Okanogan County means the state’s Growth Management Act does not apply, reducing the regulations to set up cultivation of any kind. As cities and counties have implemented bans and moratoriums, many farmers have flocked to the safe haven of Okanogan to set up their farms. Many established traditional farms added cannabis cultivation to their repertoire, bringing a total of more than 50 licensed grow operations spanning the vast, remote county near the Canadian border.
Now a proposal is in the works that would change Okanogan County code to exclude marijuana cultivation and marijuana products from the definition of agriculture. The proposal would also specify the definition of a farm to exclude cannabis operations.
A crucial debate around this action focuses not only on how to ban future farms, but how to rid the county of all existing operators with sunset clauses. The Washington Sungrowers Industry Association is leading the charge to stop this threat against the Right to Farm designation, and it needs the support of the entire industry. No one is truly safe, as we’ve witnessed multiple city and county councils change their minds about cannabis cultivation. The implications are vast, and the future of legal cannabis is gravely threatened by this type of language creeping into local codes.
As legal cannabis growers who barely got grandfathered in on a piece of farmland, my family takes this extremely seriously, and I implore the readers of this magazine to support cannabis farmers. Whether you service the industry, or are directly involved in it, know that the ability to safely and economically grow this plant will make or break the industry. Please give some of your time and/or money to help fight these actions, because our industry needs your support now to survive.
Shawn DeNae is the CEO of Washington Bud Company, a state-licensed producer/processor. She is one of the founding members of the Cannabis Women’s Alliance and active in several other industry organizations.