SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The ongoing hemp controversy in Sutter County comes down to two issues: shortfall and smell.

Six-figure losses are at stake on both sides of the debate between the county and its local hemp farmers, as officials weigh whether to continue their ban on industrial hemp production.

Sutter County has only a handful of licensed hemp growers, and several pushed back last week against the county’s temporary ban, claiming to have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars establishing their hemp businesses that they may not recoup if the short-term action becomes long term.

Meanwhile, Sutter County supervisors, whose agricultural department has accrued losses greater than $400,000 since its industrial hemp program began in 2019, also have six-figure losses in mind, along with resident complaints of the stench from the plants reaching neighborhoods and schools.

“Being the largest registered hemp farmer in Sutter County, I can’t help but feel extremely disappointed and, to be completely honest, offended,” said Luke Wilson, a second-generation Sutter County farmer, “that the county would without notice decide to ban the production of industrial hemp without ever reaching out to myself or any other registered hemp farmer in the county to see if we can collaboratively come up with solutions to the few issues that may come up.

“I feel Sutter County is making a huge mistake.”

Supervisors approved the 45-day pause in December after taking yearly losses running the program and a new wave of complaints, primarily from residents of Sutter, a small unincorporated town west of Yuba City near the Sutter Buttes.

An ordinance enacted in 2021 addressed similar complaints and established distance requirements, creating a buffer between hemp fields and places like homes and schools. But the ordinance fell short of solving the dilemma for Sutter residents living with the strong smell for weeks at a time before harvest.

“Because the first go around, when the plants were blooming, our high school smelled like dope, our neighborhood smelled like dope, our clothing smelled like it, our dogs and cats smelled like it,” said Steve Roach, a Sutter resident.

“It’s not acceptable,” he added.

Crux of the matter

Currently, six licensed hemp growers are in Sutter County, according to a county report, four of whom are on corrective action plans for state violations. The county has handed out 23 violations since 2019, including two related to illegal pesticide use.

Hemp growers register with the state but are mostly monitored by counties, whose agricultural departments are tasked with making sure the crops meet certain requirements, such as maintaining THC levels below 0.3%, which distinguishes hemp from marijuana.

That costs money.

Growers pay fees, but the county has lost more than $415,000 since starting the program in 2019. The bulk of that loss came in the fiscal years ending in 2020 and 2021, which combined for about a $243,000 loss, according to a county report.

The county’s smallest loss, aside from its introductory year, was more than $36,000 last year.

The Sheriff’s Office received more than 200 calls related to hemp since 2019, according to the report, but call volumes have decreased in recent years.

“I will tell you very early on when the ordinance was enacted, the calls for service were much higher,” Sheriff Brandon Barnes told supervisors. “We actually did have some relatively violent crimes in a couple of the particular rural areas — people assuming it was marijuana. … Most recently those calls have been reduced so we haven’t felt the significant impact recently.”

Finding a remedy

The timing of the potential ban has caused frustration for some growers, as the industry has weeded out a number of newcomers, leaving those who have held on in a position to profit, said Wilson, who’s also a hemp advisory board member for California Department of Food and Agriculture.

He said that his hemp farming has been profitable in recent years after taking early losses when he started in 2019. Now, he said, he’s in talks to grow hemp for three large manufacturers, or extraction labs, for contracts worth millions of dollars. His business would spend much of that money in the county, he said, from employing about 50 full-time workers to buying from local businesses.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence that we can work with the county and figure out a solution for it,” he said.

Justin Eve, a first-generation farmer who grows a variety of crops in Sutter County, said that since 2019 he’s lost about a half-million dollars growing hemp. Still, he said there’s money to be made in the industry, for him and the county.

“I’m not a marijuana farmer or hemp farmer, I’m just a farmer trying to make a living,” he said.

J.R. Thiara, a longtime Sutter County farmer, estimated that he’s lost more than $250,000 learning the hemp industry, but still sees the economic potential for the crop. He took issue with the county, given its longstanding history of farming a variety of crops, limiting the rights of farmers.

“If we can’t manage farming, whatever category it is, because of the budget — the county budget — we might as well shut the doors down now,” Thiara said. “Close the county.”

A lingering smell

Supervisor Mike Ziegenmeyer, who represents the district with the town of Sutter, questioned why farmers have hung on despite their losses and doubted that the industry would become a moneymaker for the county, as had been hoped in the past.

“I heard that same pitch four years ago and still haven’t seen it,” he said. “... If I’m losing money on a piece of equipment, I quit building that piece of equipment.”

Then there’s the smell.

“Throughout the day, throughout the evening, I get phone calls of the smell,” he said.

Supervisors agreed to meet with hemp farmers before their next meeting, a few days before the hemp moratorium expires Jan. 31, to discuss possible solutions.

“We’re conscious of people’s opinions and try not to upset people with it, but at the same time, I don’t think that should be a reason for eliminating this industry in Sutter County,” Wilson said. “There’s a lot of crops that smell.”

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