An historic crop is beginning to sprout in the Empire State. As New York inches closer to the launch of its adult-use cannabis market, the state’s inaugural cultivators are readying the first batch.

A report from the Associated Press on Wednesday put a spotlight on some of New York’s first legal recreational cannabis growers, who were awarded cultivation licenses back in April.

The AP highlighted “growers like Frank Popolizio of Homestead Farms and Ranch, where a small crew north of Albany earlier this month dug out shallow holes for seedlings before packing them in by hand.”

“It is an opportunity. There’s obviously going to be a demand for it,” Popolizio told the Associated Press. “And, hopefully, it benefits the farmers. Been a long time since there’s been a real cash crop.”

Popolizio is a recipient of the first roughly 200 licenses awarded to cultivators for New York’s forthcoming recreational cannabis market.

The state legalized recreational cannabis for adults last year, when former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation that ended the prohibition and paved the way for a regulated cannabis market that is expected to launch by the end of this year.

But under Cuomo, the new marijuana program was slow to take shape, with key regulatory positions going unfilled for months.

After Cuomo resigned as governor last August amid allegations of sexual misconduct, he was replaced by Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat who made the launch of the adult-use cannabis program a priority. 

Within a month of taking office, Hochul completed a pair of appointments to the state’s Office of Cannabis Management, saying at the time that “New York’s cannabis industry has stalled for far too long.”

In April, the New York State Cannabis Control announced that it had approved the first 52 adult-use cannabis cultivation licenses, with the state’s established hemp farmers getting first dibs.

“New York’s farms have been the backbone of our state’s economy since before the American Revolution, and now, New York’s farms will be at the center of the most equitable cannabis industry in the nation,” Hochul said at the time. “I’m proud to announce the first adult-use cannabis cultivation licenses in the state, and I’m proud of the work the Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board are doing to get adult-use cannabis sales up and running as fast as possible without compromising our mission to uplift communities and individuals most impacted by the past century of cannabis prohibition.”

Hochul’s office said that those farmers “must adhere to quality assurance, health, and safety requirements developed by the [Office of Cannabis Management],” including participation in “sustainability and equity mentorship programs that will help build the first generation of equity cannabis owners across the entire supply chain.”

In its report this week, the Associated Press noted that giving a “head start for hemp growers is an unusual way to gear up a marijuana market,” citing an expert who said that “states typically rely initially on their existing medical growers.”

“But New York’s move is a potential lifeline for farmers growing their crop for CBD during a slump in prices,” the Associated Press reported. “They have a chance to make much more money growing what is essentially the same plant, but with higher levels of THC — the compound that makes people feel high.”

As for the recreational dispensary licenses, the state said earlier this year that the first 100 of those will go to applicants with previous pot-related convictions, or family members of individuals with pot-related convictions.

The state’s Office of Cannabis management said that the initiative is “something that has not been done before.”

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Regulators in New York on Thursday approved dozens of licenses for cultivating cannabis as part of the Empire State’s forthcoming recreational cannabis program.

The New York Cannabis Control Board said that it had signed off on “the first 52 adult-use cannabis cultivation licenses for farms across the state.”

“The first cannabis product on dispensary shelves will come from NY’s hard-working family farmers, not out-of-state corporations,” the board announced on Twitter.

Political leaders in New York heralded the announcement as a big step toward the state’s intended launch of retail cannabis sales later this year.

“New York’s farms have been the backbone of our state’s economy since before the American Revolution, and now, New York’s farms will be at the center of the most equitable cannabis industry in the nation,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. “I’m proud to announce the first adult-use cannabis cultivation licenses in the state, and I’m proud of the work the Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board are doing to get adult-use cannabis sales up and running as fast as possible without compromising our mission to uplift communities and individuals most impacted by the past century of cannabis prohibition.” 

Last month, Hochul announced the Seeding Opportunity Initiative, which requires that the first 100-200 recreational dispensary licenses in New York go to individuals with previous cannabis-related convictions, or who have family members with such convictions on their records.

As part of the initiative, New York farmers already growing hemp were given the first crack at growing cannabis for the adult-use market.

“Farmers must adhere to quality assurance, health, and safety requirements developed by the [Office of Cannabis Management],” Hochul’s office explained in the announcement of the initiative. “They must also take part in sustainability and equity mentorship programs that will help build the first generation of equity cannabis owners across the entire supply chain. These conditional licenses make it possible for farmers to grow cannabis in the 2022 growing season.”

New York Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes said Thursday that the “approval of the first 52 provisional cultivation licenses will help create a responsible start to the [New York state] cannabis industry by granting cultivators the ability to produce enough product and inventory for social equity retail dispensaries to meet the initial demand of the anticipated legal market.”

“We are on our way towards realizing our goal of creating a viable and inclusive path for minorities and small farmers to have the opportunity to create generational wealth for their families and communities. I am proud of the work conducted thus far by the NYS Office of Cannabis Management and the Cannabis Control Board, and I look forward to our actions bearing fruit,” Peoples-Stokes said in a statement.

New York legalized recreational cannabis use last year when then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law.

But the regulated market was slow to take shape under Cuomo, who resigned in August amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Since taking over as the state’s first female governor, Hochul has been determined to get the adult-use program up and running.

In September, she completed overdue appointments to the Office of Cannabis Management.

“New York’s cannabis industry has stalled for far too long—I am making important appointments to set the Office of Cannabis Management up for success so they can hit the ground running,” Hochul said in a statement at the time.

Officials in New York are hopeful that recreational pot sales will begin later this year. Until then, New Yorkers can always cross the bridge to New Jersey, where adult-use dispensaries are slated to open next week.

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