POB 1605
Ukiah, California 95482 707-489-0996
www.Smallfarmers.us
July 26, 2015
Ms. An-Chi Tsou
Mr. Max Mikalonis
Ms. Stephanie Barri
Ms. Amanda Kirchner
Mr. Tim Townsend
California State Capital
Sacramento, CA 94249-0018
RE: AB 266
Dear Assembly Staff,
The Small Farmers Association (SFA) membership of over 650, began with the first permitted cultivators in the Nation. As a 501(c)3 educational organization with a 5 year track record, we know how to regulate and license cultivators. Through Julia
Carrera & Associates, the SFA has created stand alone BMPs and inspections for cultivation with standards beyond organic and certify processed medical cannabis at our top 2 levels of our 4 level program. We do so while protecting and enhancing the environment to the degree of our 4 th BMP level being 100% sustainability, no off farm inputs.
The current SFA membership is a self regulating organization, following what guidance the state has offered thus far via the unpublished 2008 Attorney General Guidelines,
Prop 215 and SB420. Our farmers not only want to be regulated, we have stepped up to the regulatory plate as self regulators for the past five years, now with the assistance of our newly implemented electronic tracking system, Nubetrak/Canntrak, which is currently in use by our farmers. We have collected sought after data over these years that substantiate our AB266 amendment requests.
We believe by following State Guidance, we are following the law, something all of our farmers value. The result is no profit. We have attached our White Paper to document the average revenue of a Small Farmer, which mainly lies beneath national poverty levels. The SFA farmers do not depend on medical cannabis for their full income, as most farmers in the nation without farming subsidies. We are patch income farmers.
1.Section 19206(B) Task Force Members: includes a Cannabis “Industry” member only. Cultivation is not industry, it is farming. It is also important to include a medical cultivation representative to assure medical cannabis cultivation remains intact and separate from adult use cannabis cultivation.

Solution: 19206 (B) change to 17 members
Add 2 (D) A member of the medical cannabis cultivation community
2. Article 5 Regulation of Cannabis 19325(c) takes processing off-farm in the form of a manufacturing license. Processing facilities historically have been more mechanical in nature and require antidotal systems for potential degradation or contamination of mingled product. While we understand this model is preferable for non-diversion and traditional has been used for the transition of prohibition for alcohol, and applicable to more urban oriented communities, it does not reflect the current “in-the-field” reality of a decades old farming industry. In fact, this model would displace tens of thousands of year around residents and their families who, without on-farming processing, including labeling and packaging, would not be able to survive. While current language allows up to curring for a cultivation license, it does not allow the farmer to package and label cured product for transport. It also jeopardizes the market share and product quality that has come to be known by the patients and dispensaries of these Small Farms, leaving the end consumer and cultivator with an inferior product. Hand trimming and select packaging and labeling are the branding and marketing of these small cultivators, similar to microbreweries and boutique wineries. If these cultivators and worker families are too financially burdened, this unregulated industry will continue on the black market to economically save their families.
Solution: Add an exemption for Type 1 and 2 cultivation licenses, including A licenses as a separate section added to 19325 as follows:
19325(c)1: Type 1, 1A, 2 and 2A cultivation licensees shall have an exemption to process, test, package and label their cured product through an application with the
Dept. of Food and Agriculture so long as they meet the Health and Safety requirements set forth by the Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of Public Health. In addition, on farm testing must be done by a licensed testing facility and tracking of product is conducted through the products identifier until it reaches a licensed manufacturer and/or licensed dispensary.
3. Article 5 Regulation of Cannabis 19325(d) does not allow the Boutique and
Small licensed Cultivator to take their product to market. It requires a separate license to transport. If these cultivators and worker families are too financially burdened, this unregulated industry will continue on the black market to economically save their families. It also jeopardizes the market share and product quality that has come to be known by the patients and dispensaries of these Small Farms, as transporters most likely will not take the care needed for hand trimmed product to maintain it’s quality.
Solution: Type 1, 1A, 2 and 2A licensees shall have an exemption to transport their processed medical cannabis to a licensed farmers market, licensed manufacturer and/or licensed dispensary through an application with the Dept. of Food and
Agriculture so long as they meet the Health and Safety requirements set forth by the
Department of Food and Agriculture and the Department of Public Health, and, tracking of product is conducted through the products identifier until it reaches a licensed farmers market, licensed manufacturer and/or licensed dispensary.

It is important to address on farm sales at the discretion of the Department of Food and Agriculture.
4. Article 6 Provisional Licensing 19330 (c) we recommend option 2 as it allows for non-greenhouse outdoor cultivators to acquire a provisional license. Option 1 does not, eliminating a large secure of the cultivation population who use traditional growing seasons that do not function during November to March year around.
5. Article 7 Licensed Cultivation Sites 19322(d) does not address non-greenhouse outdoor cultivation, the majority of cultivation in the Northern region of the State.
Over 40 years of outside cultivation shows outdoor cultivation (without a greenhouse) canopy is in constant flux and there is no static measure possibility, unlike plant count. The majority of ordinances in the 58 Counties of California regulating
Cannabis refer to plant numbers. With over 2,500 site inspections on medical cannabis farms, our data shows most farms are cultivating in various locations on the farm.
Solution:
(1) Type 1, or “specialty outdoor” free of greenhouse cultivation 50 plants or less than 5500 square feet.
(2) Type 1A, or “specialty indoor or outdoor greenhouse”…..
(3) Type 2, or “small outdoor” free of greenhouse cultivation 99 plants or 5501 to
10,500 square feet.
(4) Type 2A, or “small indoor or outdoor greenhouse”……
(5) Type 3 or “medium outdoor” free of greenhouse cultivation 299 plants or no more than 31,700 square feet.
(6) Type 3A, or “medium indoor or outdoor greenhouse”……
Thank you for all the hard work you all are doing regarding medical cannabis regulation. This is an enormous job and you are doing it well. We look forward to the upcoming Stakeholders meeting.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Julia Carrera
Julia Carrera
Neutral 3 rd Party Inspector
Representative, Small Farmers Association
Representative, California Cannabis Cultivation Chart Working Group