- Portal Survey
- Origins Council Member Meeting Wed. Sept 28
- Russian River Drought Response
- MCA Policy Call Thursday Oct. 7
We are seeking community input on the County’s roll out of the Portal Resubmission process.
On August 2, 2021 the Mendocino Cannabis Program opened a digital Portal for the resubmission of County Cultivation Permit applications from the vast majority of Embossed Receipt holders. If you are a Phase One and Two applicant, pursuant to Chapter 10A.17, and have NOT been notified that you are in Good Standing, or your application number appears on the Portal List with a “Portal” recommendation status, you need to submit a completed Cannabis Cultivation Application through this portal.
MCA has consistently advocated for an extension of the portal deadline, and clarification that those who submit to the Portal prior to the end of the 90 day deadline be guaranteed that they will have the same ability as all other applicants to work with the MCP to ensure their submission is complete.
Along these lines we are working to catalogue your experience with the Portal. Please answer as many questions below as you can, and skip those that you feel do not apply to you. We will utilize this information as part of our advocacy work with the County. All contact info will remain confidential.
This survey is ONLY for folks in the Mendocino Cannabis Program who are required to use the Portal, or Consultants representing clients who are required to use the Portal.
To confirm if you are being required to use the Portal CLICK HERE and search for your Ag Number.
CLICK HERE to take the survey.
Thanks for your input!!
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Origins Council Member Meeting – Wednesday September 29, 3 – 4:30PM
You must be a member of MCA, or one of Origin Council’s Regional Council Members to attend. Not already a Member? CLICK HERE to join MCA!
Members all across our regions are facing historic challenges: licensing insecurity; mounting costs and bureaucracy; statewide glut and dropping wholesale prices for cannabis; ongoing local impacts from COVID, wildfires and the drought; industry consolidation and cultural endangerment.
It is crucial to Origins Council that we make our best effort to meet this moment with the effort, determination and seriousness it deserves. We know many of you are weighing the viability of being a licensed cannabis business in the state of California, and we want to provide you with as much information and meaningful resources as we can during this critical period of time.
Leading into fall harvest, you all will take inventory of 2021 and begin to plan for 2022. In parallel the OC Regional Council, our advisors and our Collaborating Partners are entering our strategic planning to identify what our policy priorities must be heading into the eye of this storm. We know the coming 6 months of advocacy will be critical given the conditions on the ground.
Our September member meeting will focus on the state’s proposed solutions to the industry’s systemic challenges – agency consolidation and assistance programs. We will discuss the revised emergency regulations and hear from our membership about their experiences thus far with the new Department of Cannabis Control. There are multiple state funded assistance programs in development that are applicable to our regions and membership base. There are however, challenges with timing – will this funding come too late to meet the urgent industry needs of this critical moment? Most of these opportunities also require local jurisdictions to design and implement local level programs in order to get these funds into the hands of recipients. Are our modestly resourced rural local governments – already stretched thin due to the enduring crises of COVID, wildfires and the historic drought – in a position to launch and administer these assistance programs in time to make enough of an impact? With these considerations in mind the OC Regional Council is discussing additional near term urgency relief measures to advocate for to the state.
We are excited to be joined by Caitlin Slay, the Certification Services Manager for California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). CCOF is preparing to roll out certification services to licensed cannabis businesses this month, in parallel to the launch of CDFA’s OCal organic equivalence certification program. OCal’s standards, certification process and regulations mirror almost exactly those of the USDA’s National Organics Program. This creates an important opportunity for California cannabis producers who are intending to put their product into a National organics market to prepare for that opportunity through OCal certification. Hemp currently enjoys NOP certification, and is paving the way for the national organic cannabis market.
Learn about the USDA National Organics Program: https://www.ams.usda.gov/…/program…/national-organic-program
Learn about CDFA’s OCal Cannabis Organics Program: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/calcannabis/ocal.html
Learn about the California Certified Organic Farmers CCOF Certification services for cannabis producers interested in certifying with OCal:
https://www.ccof.org/…/ccof-will-soon-offer-cannabis-certif…
U.S. organic sales soared to new highs in 2020, jumping by a record 12.4 percent to $61.9 billion. It marked the first time that total sales of organic food and non-food products have surpassed the $60 billion mark, and reflected a growth rate more than twice the 2019 pace of 5 percent, according to the 2021 Organic Industry Survey released by the Organic Trade Association.
Market differentiation tools (standards-based certifications and origins designations) and the correlative education of cannabis consumers are critical to small craft producers being able to penetrate the California cannabis glut being caused by overproduction, or an interstate market. OCal is one of the strongest such tools that will be most immediately available to our members.
DONATE NOW to support the work of OC!
Learn about OC Sponsorship opportunities: http://originscouncil.org/partners/
CLICK HERE for September 20th, 2021 OC Regional Council Comments re DCC.
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Russian River Drought Response – Water Curtailment
As you likely know, Governor Newsom declared a drought emergency in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties largely due to abnormally dry conditions in the Russian River watershed. The watershed is home to 360,000 people and provides water for municipal and private wells, agriculture, wineries and recreation. As the region’s drought situation worsens, local and state governments and community members are collaborating to address water shortages.
For those of you on the Russian River, we encourage you to review their website with Water Curtailment information to identify if any of the recently passed Emergency Regulations apply to you.
CLICK HERE for the CA Waterboard page on Russian River Drought Response.
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MCA Policy Call – Thursday October 7 @ 7PM
Join us as we discuss the state of the County, and how we can work together to improve conditions for our local producers.
Topic: MCA Policy Call
Time: Oct 7, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
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