Dive Brief:
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Marijuana growers could qualify to build homesteads on land zoned for farming unless the Oregon Legislature changes a land use law that allows it.
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The intention of the existing law, adopted long before Oregon legalized marijuana last year, was to allow farmers to live on the land they tend. For the owner to qualify to build a home on farmland, the property must generate a minimum of $80,000 in gross revenues for several years. Marijuana sells at prices higher than most conventional crops, so landowners could easily meet the revenue threshold and build more homes on traditional farmland, agriculture publication Capital Press reported Monday.
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Farmland preservationists have said they fear marijuana growers will take advantage of the law to develop quality farmland for housing subdivisions. “The economic implications of marijuana growing have changed the underpinning of the rule,” one land use attorney told the publication.
Dive Insight:
Legal experts have said they expect the state Legislature to revise the Oregon's land use law so the cash-rich crop will not allow growers to develop farmland. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has said it will issue regulations next year for the commercial production of the substance.