Colin Spencer
Colin Spencer/staff reporter
keegan Bush, left, Paul jensen and Anthony Paolini transplant onions Monday at Main Street Farms in Cortland. Despite last week s snow, temperatures are expected to be higher than normal this spring; farmers are prepared for almost anything. 4/27/2021
When Ithaca Organics owner Trever Sherman learned that this spring had been projected to be warmer than average, he laughed, considering last spring was hot and dry.
“We’re pretty much prepared for whatever happens,” the Freeville farm owner said.
Even as snow dusted parts of the county last week, farmers said they are fluid in adjusting to the weather, including a warmer-than-average spring.
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Jeanette Miller says she’s one of hundreds of farmers who were encouraged to devote acreage to an up-and-coming crop that held promise, but is now watching it all slip away.
In November of 2020, the state of New York released its regulations concerning hemp, and much to the surprise and chagrin of hemp farmers in the state, the new regulations outlawed the sale of industrial hemp flower.
The hemp flower market is lucrative for farmers, and many small, independent operations in the state grow specifically for the flower market. And just as their harvest was coming in last year, farmers were aghast when the state shut down the market and the revenue potential farmers were counting on.
As one might imagine, hemp farmers in New York want desperately to get this rule overturned. One such farmer is Allan Gandelman. He is a hemp farmer and owner of Main Street Farms and the CBD brand, Head & Heal. He is also the founder and president of the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association.