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Sutter County board votes 4‑1 to bar industrial hemp cultivation and processing after heated hearing
Summary
After hours of public testimony and staff presentations, the Sutter County Board of Supervisors voted 4‑1 on Jan. 28, 2025, to adopt an ordinance extending an interim moratorium and effectively banning industrial hemp cultivation and processing in unincorporated Sutter County. The decision followed staff options, an ag commissioner letter citing fiscal shortfalls, and conflicting community testimony.
The Sutter County Board of Supervisors voted 4‑1 on Jan. 28 to extend an interim urgency ordinance that bars industrial hemp cultivation and processing in the county’s unincorporated areas after a lengthy public hearing that drew growers, parents, educators and county staff.
Staff presented two options: extend the existing moratorium for 10 months and 15 days or adopt a "modify and extend" version that would allow outdoor, in‑ground hemp cultivation while prohibiting greenhouse and container production and adding buffer zones around sensitive receptors. County staff and legal counsel advised the board that any urgency ordinance action would require a four‑fifths vote.
Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Nick Oliver read a letter from Agricultural Commissioner Lisa Herbert asking the board to continue the moratorium. The letter described enforcement and fiscal challenges and cited department budget reductions (listed in the letter as…
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