(ABC 6 News) – Online applications are now open for anyone wanting to grow or process hemp in Minnesota in 2025.
According to a press release, a Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) license is required for individuals and businesses.
Applications must be submitted by April 30, 2025 and a license is valid for the 2025 calendar year.
The application is available at MDA website. Along with the online form, first-time applicants and authorized representatives must submit fingerprints and pass a criminal background check, MDA added.
These licenses are reportedly only for the cultivation and processing of industrial hemp. The hemp grower or processor application is not intended for the cultivation or sale of adult use or medical cannabis.
The application is also not intended for the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Information on cannabis use by adults can be found at Office of Cannabis Management website.
Growers and breeders need to be aware of the following for 2025:
- All authorized representatives appointed by the applicant must pass a criminal history background check before a license is issued.
- Every lot of hemp grown requires THC testing before harvest. Each official regulatory sample collected by MDA will cost $100.
- MDA licenses processors that handle raw hemp and initially process it through extraction, decoration, devitalization, crushing or packaging, and the department will continue random inspections of processor sites.
- License fees remain the same. The minimum cost for a grower’s license is $400. A processing license is at least $500. A 5% license surcharge is added to support the modernization of MDA’s technology systems which will provide better online services and more efficient processing of applications.
While the deadline to apply or renew is April 30, 2025, those actively growing hemp plants indoors after December 31, 2024 must renew their license before the expiration at the end of the year, according to the MDA.
Questions about MDA’s industrial hemp program can be sent to hemp.mda@state.mn.us or 651-201-6600.
