[{"_1":2,"_86":-5,"_87":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_25":26},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_27":28,"_29":30},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[31,74],{"_32":33,"_34":35,"_36":37,"_38":39,"_40":41,"_42":43,"_44":45,"_46":47,"_48":49,"_50":51,"_52":53,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":55,"_73":55},"mediaId",6372213,"mediaKeyId","2148333-9dee0b0ec130a3d260769cd60e46177a","parentId",2148333,"title","Cannabis Control Board briefs committee on licensing, revenue and hemp-derived-product challenges","audioSeconds",557,"startMs",2659250,"endMs",3216780,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2148333-9dee0b0ec130a3d260769cd60e46177a&start=2659&end=3216","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2148333-9dee0b0ec130a3d260769cd60e46177a/thumbnail_2659250.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6372213/Vermont/Cannabis-Control-Board-briefs-committee-on-licensing-revenue-and-hemp-derived-product-challenges","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6372213-6b0bd69662bb6cdcaacbf330889f5029/orig.mp4?Expires=1769924904&Signature=Fu-ioEWF-mXkOFxG3lforAciIM0QcQFfPPeS-obp8Mso-1MkzkR61ZBKtYwe2BoEOMG04-4PojCIvGtUNDAfvQM-GZcxe7bb9lzBZvDQysAj9nNhqipz0bqK7ICW3NbK6NZkbVJhPR35-4mRxLGvSPxTHwmHk3UB9ujSXMxtVilCIHFtF1v1~1bzAQMT17xkYeV1s-WlagUxD~H-T19Ywv60UGH~b3EdWY5jKRGFp0VbecycFAbIyVic5lNFXXu4cO2-ADVwoPwlad48qyadWe1OTQFFybtUw86wGXCHg9D6bPii-yOXUqZPUJAI46okjVYhGWMwg-O9bGnSVruSyg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-01-24T14:03:53Z","article","James Pepper, a member of the Cannabis Control Board, and board colleagues briefed the committee on Jan. 24 about the shape of Vermont’s licensed cannabis market, licensing counts, tax revenues and regulatory challenges.

\"We have 601 licensees, amongst the 7 license types,\" Pepper said, describing a licensing ecosystem weighted toward cultivators and small-scale operators. He said roughly three-quarters of cultivators are \"tier 1\" small growers.

The nut graf: the board said the legal market has grown faster than some projections, producing material excise and sales-tax receipts, but the market faces long-term questions from competition (border states and tourism flows), an unregulated intoxicating hemp product market, and structural disadvantages for cannabis businesses because of federal prohibitions on banking, tax treatment and certain federal supports.

Pepper summarized revenue numbers drawn from JFO and board figures: taxable sales rose from roughly $4.79 million in the first partial year to nearly $125 million in FY 2024, and the excise tax revenue increased accordingly. The board noted 14 percent excise taxes (30 percent of which is dedicated to prevention programs) and regular sales-tax receipts; JFO projects continued growth for FY 2025 and FY 2026.

The board described two persistent regulatory threats: (1) intoxicating hemp-derived products that can enter the market outside the state cannabis licensing framework and (2) online sales and interstate commerce that regulators find difficult to control. Pepper said the board had adopted rules to limit certain synthetic cannabinoids and to treat hemp-derived intoxicating products like regulated cannabis when THC thresholds are met.

On business support, the board has recommended expanding an existing cannabis business development fund. Board materials and stakeholder engagement led the board to propose a recurring $1 million annual fund to provide grants and a coordinator/adviser network aimed at small outdoor cultivators, social-equity applicants and other small operators to help with business planning, technical assistance and capacity building.

The board also reported on an outdoor-siting inquiry and a round of municipal outreach; it noted municipal concerns about siting, setbacks and local control, and a small number of cultivators potentially affected by newly established siting setbacks. The board discussed odor and nuisance complaints in one case where a constituent reported outdoor-cultivation odors reaching a home more than 200 feet away; the board noted that odor assessment and nuisance law raise complex enforcement questions and are not resolved by simple buffer rules.

Pepper and board members invited further committee coordination on legislative changes and on deployment of the business-support fund, and they offered to share two written reports the committee had requested: the business-support report and the outdoor-siting report.

No votes or legislative actions were taken during the briefing; the board sought committee feedback on priorities for supporting small cultivators and addressing intoxicating hemp products.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Agriculture 2025-01-24 9:00 AM","oneSentenceSummary","Representatives of the Cannabis Control Board described the agency’s licensing rollout, market size and regulatory challenges including intoxicating hemp products and local odor/nuisance concerns; they recommended expanding business-support funding for small cultivators.","taxTitle","Agriculture, SENATE, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",35161,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_32":75,"_34":35,"_36":37,"_38":76,"_40":77,"_42":78,"_44":79,"_46":80,"_48":81,"_50":82,"_52":83,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":84,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":85,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":71,"_72":55,"_73":55},6372218,"Vermont Land Trust outlines easement stewardship, farm transfers and funding needs",2513,26840,2540720,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2148333-9dee0b0ec130a3d260769cd60e46177a&start=26&end=2540","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2148333-9dee0b0ec130a3d260769cd60e46177a/thumbnail_26840.jpg","/articles/6372218/Vermont/Vermont-Land-Trust-outlines-easement-stewardship-farm-transfers-and-funding-needs","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6372218-bd13e35e43a11df3d410ef2d964cdb7e/orig.mp4?Expires=1769924904&Signature=ZnbGlP-6ZNC-2x~RuFXsXmfVclP2tJCdF8-bGUgR4CtifWFoK8o8qPEEIMWGY8o2caXPZqvHMXnujupZqswZr24EHMSd-jzwJjwYLG32cdgGVUh~1xvO9JDlERru79pJP1IEKvNH9djkdUsOY9sRG1X5OcH~QBlP82Oc4TUXIWrEAgt5frvHnkpUUrZswblhArHLPdIjw3-jZQOqTzF2b1LNeunbjY-gtWXtqzxC6ih7URuACV2HC8cFPLoI2Kg2ESbuMTVWtObf9bt340Ij98uuYBEwvFMjUpMWCn8GhTS0C2MPitbsvBM9eamCM~neoWGETKscmT2CRu5qb7pvOg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Tracy Shao, president and CEO of Vermont Land Trust, told the Center of Agriculture on Jan. 24 that the organization has conserved large amounts of land in Vermont and is increasingly acting as an interim owner to help new farmers acquire farms.

\"We've been, working since 1977,\" Shao said, and the trust now holds conservation easements on a large portfolio of properties. She said the land trust has conserved roughly 11 percent of the state and holds easements on hundreds of thousands of acres while stewarding 2,300 individual parcels.

The nut graf: Shao emphasized that the trust's conservation work is intended to keep land available for productive use, and that the trust’s ability to move land from outgoing to incoming farmers depends on a steady mix of state, federal and philanthropic funding. Without regular easement funding, the pipeline of farm transfers stretches years.

Shao described three main program areas: acquiring and stewarding conservation easements; activating conserved land through restoration, soil-health and flood-resiliency work; and improving farmland access for new and beginning farmers. She said Vermont Land Trust owns about 44 properties at any given time, and typically holds 10–15 farms to bridge the sale from an outgoing owner to an incoming farmer.

She gave specific examples: Lucas Dairy Farm, where the trust helped an incoming farmer purchase a conserved property from the Audette family; the DeFries farm in Waitsfield and Warren where the trust combined farmland conservation, riparian buffer protection and public-access easements and transferred the property to a next-generation farmer; and Hartwood Farm in Albany, which included a conservation easement combined with lease arrangements for other tenants.

On funding, Shao said Vermont Land Trust’s operating budget (separate from the pass-through funds used to buy easements) is about $7 million and that easement acquisition is funded through other channels, including the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB), USDA programs and philanthropy. She noted the statutory allocation that directs half of the property transfer tax to the Housing and Conservation Trust Fund and said that the trust relies on that sustained funding to meet demand.

Shao described the trust’s stewardship work as a growing and costly part of operations: \"a lot of what we do is talking to landowners, hearing what they wanna do, and working with them to find a way to say yes that's within the bounds of the conservation easement,\" she said. She said the trust is campaigning to add to its easement-stewardship endowment to cover long-term costs.

The presentation also addressed climate and water-resiliency priorities, including use of conserved wetlands and river buffers to absorb floodwaters and active restoration (planting trees and shrubs) to accelerate water-quality benefits. Shao said the trust is returning to conserved lands from earlier decades with willing landowners to add new protections such as riparian buffers.

Shao and questioners discussed how easements affect land value: the trust pays for development rights based on comparative appraisals, so restricting development lowers the sales price and can make farms more affordable for buyers. She said that competing demand for farmland — including larger regional buyers — is putting upward pressure on prices for both conserved and unconserved land.

The presentation closed with Shao inviting further engagement and noting the organization’s continuing emphasis on balancing conservation with housing and economic development so that protected land remains productive and communities remain vibrant.","Tracy Shao, president and CEO of Vermont Land Trust, briefed the Center of Agriculture on the organization's conservation portfolio, its role buying and stewarding farms to help new farmers enter agriculture, and the organization's reliance on state and federal easement funding.","actionData","errors"]

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Cannabis Control Board briefs committee on licensing, revenue and hemp-derived-product challenges

Vermont Land Trust outlines easement stewardship, farm transfers and funding needs