In his 2018 State of the State Budget proposal, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has earmarked $650,000 for a hemp processing plant, $2 million for a state-run hemp seed certification program, and plans to import “thousands of pounds” of industrial hemp seed into the state to ensure farmers have “access to a high quality product” and ease “the administrative burden” on hemp farmers.
The processing plant, located in the Binghamton area, is estimated to cost a total of $3.2 million.
“Despite growing production values, the U.S. still relies heavily on imported hemp plants and seeds, which are expensive and often poorly adapted for New York’s agricultural environment. To avoid long-term dependence on seed from other states and countries, the State must begin to produce its own unique seed to drive New York’s industrial hemp industry forward.” – 2018 New York State of the State Budget Book
The investments come on the back of a successful 2017 hemp campaign in the state, which saw the first-ever New York State Industrial Hemp Summit and Working Group commit $10 million to support hemp research, production, and processing. The budget book indicates that the state more than tripled the numbers of hemp farmers in the state last year, leading to 2,000 acres of crops.
Cuomo also announced plans for an Industrial Hemp Research Forum to take place in February.