Grow Hemp in Ohio

Any person or business that cultivates hemp in Ohio must be licensed—there is no personal-use exemption. “Cultivate” includes planting, watering, growing, fertilizing, tilling, harvesting, and storing on the premises until transport to first point of sale. Plants may be started from licensed clones or agricultural seed.

Create an OH|ID account in the name of the individual applicant or authorized business signatory. Then visit hemp.ohio.gov while signed in to begin your cultivator application and access instructions and requirements.

• Application fee: $100 (cultivators).
• Growing location fee: $500 annually per location.
• Site modification fee: $250 per GPS coordinate change per location.
• Additional pre-harvest samples: $150 per extra sample when required (e.g., multiple fields/varieties).
• Application window: Nov 1 – Mar 31. Licenses are valid for three years.

Processors must obtain a license from ODA; facilities are inspected for compliance. First create an OH|ID account, then complete the processor application.

• Application fee: $100.
• Annual site fees:
  • $500 – processing raw grain
  • $500 – processing raw fiber
  • $3,000 – processing raw floral component (extraction, smokable processing/packaging)
• Cannabinoid product processing fees (per site):
  • $500 – wholesale production
  • $250 – retail production

• Grain Processing: handles hemp grain and grain oil ingredients.
• Fiber Processing: produces rope, textiles, building materials, etc.
• Extraction Facility: extracts cannabinoids from raw flower into crude/distillate/isolate.
• Raw Flower: packages smokable flower/cigarettes (non-extraction).
• Wholesale: uses pre-processed cannabinoids and distributes to separate production sites.
• Retail: uses pre-processed cannabinoids and sells at the same site where produced.