Hemp farmers across the state say a proposed ban on the sale of hemp flower could mean financial ruin for growers.

"The state really needs the money now, so it makes zero sense to ban smokable hemp flower at this time," said Jason Minard, general counsel at Hempire State Growers.

Regulations proposed by the state Health Department in October would ban the sale of any flower product, including cigarettes, cigars, and pre-rolls. Minard said the farm would suffer greatly if those regulations are adopted.

"Flower is the easiest entry point into the market for a small craft grower. You don’t need an extractor, you don’t have to pay the high cost for food-grade ethanol. Flower is earning, according to hemp benchmarks, 20 times as much as biomass — what you see on the stick, straight from the fields," he said.

Biomass is used to make products like CBD oils and tinctures. He said the sale of flower commands the largest portion of their revenue.

"For New York to have a thriving hemp industry, there’s no doubt about it, we need smokable hemp flower to be able to be sold at retail as in the majority of states in this nation," Minard said.

Assemblymember Donna Lupardo from Binghamton sponsored a 2019 bill to regulate hemp sale and production in the state. She said consumer interest in the flower continues to grow.

"We have farmers who have become dependent on this income at a time when our agricultural industry is really very challenged by the COVID pandemic and other marketplace forces, so I’m concerned," she said.

The 60-day comment period on the new regulations ended earlier this week.

"I submitted comments, and I know the cannabis growers and processors did, and farmers around the state with one voice saying hemp flower ought to be legalized and regulated in this set of rules coming out," she said.

Lupardo hopes the proposed regulation will be removed, ahead of the potential creation of an Office of Cannabis Management, which, she expects, would also regulate hemp sale.

"If not, there’s going to be a disruption of a number of months, possibly as long as a year, and I just don’t think it’s fair to consumers, or to farmers," she said.

Should this not occur, the assemblywoman plans to step in.

"I am filing legislation that will correct this particular wrong, in my view, and we hope to make this part of the negotiations on the adult-use cannabis bill that the governor has before us. I’m gonna make sure that this issue of smokable cannabis flower, hemp flower, is included in it," she said.

In a statement, the Department of Health said the regulation is in line with its efforts to reduce smoking consumption for all New Yorkers, and “the proposed cannabinoid hemp regulations prohibit the sale of hemp flower by licensed cannabinoid hemp retailers to discourage the use of this product form due to the negative health effects associated with combustible products."

There is no indication when the final regulations will be published, but the department said public comment will be summarized and published, along with final regulations.