Sutter County Hemp Licensing
On April 13, 2021, the Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 1682 regulating the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp in unincorporated Sutter County. Licensing for Industrial Hemp in Sutter County is coordinated between the Agricultural and the Development Services (Planning) Departments and the following 2 separate licenses are required.

• Application to Ag Department for Cultivation License
• Application to Development Services for Processing License

What is Industrial Hemp?
"Industrial hemp" or "hemp" means an agricultural product, whether growing or not, that is limited to types of the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds of the plant and all derivatives, extracts, the resin extracted from any part of the plant, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, with a total delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of no more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.

What is the difference between cannabis and Industrial Hemp?
Cannabis is defined in California Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section 26001(f). The BPC Section 26001(f) definition explicitly states that cannabis does not include industrial hemp.

Is Industrial hemp federally regulated as a controlled substance?
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, effective January 1, 2019, removed hemp from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act. Thus, hemp is no longer federally regulated as a controlled substance.

Additional information about Industrial Hemp and registration:

• California Department of Food and Agriculture-Industrial Hemp website