OLIVIA
—
Renville County
approved its first permit for the growing of cannabis intended for medicinal or recreational use.

The
Renville County Board
approved the permit on a unanimous vote on April 28.

The Renville County Planning Commission had recommended approval of the permit. It allows Theodore Refsland and Stefanie Ward to raise cannabis on a farm property in Wang Township on the county’s west end near Hawk Creek.

Theodore Refsland and Ward have obtained preliminary approval from the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management to operate a microbusiness. The permit they are seeking from the county would allow them to raise up to one-half acre of flowering plants on a 17.80-acre parcel.

Kelly O’Neill, assistant director of Renville County Environmental Services, told the Renville County Board at its work session on April 21 that the Planning Commission recommended nine conditions for the permit.

They include requirements for security fencing, lighting and camera systems.

Cannabis cultivation is already part of the Renville County landscape. In 2020, brothers Tim and Paul Seehusen launched Prairie PROducers LLC for the processing of hemp. The Olivia company contracts with growers in the area to raise the hemp.

The county was also the site of large-scale cultivation of hemp in the early 1940s as part of the effort for World War II. Processing facilities were built in Bird Island and in Lake Lillian and Grove City to process the hemp fiber for ropes, parachutes and other products.

Theodore Refsland and Ward are allowed to raise cannabis containing THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient that is now legal in Minnesota for recreational use as well as medicinal use.

Medical cannabis products became available in 2015. Legislation that passed in 2023 legalized recreational marijuana for use by adults over 21.

The Renville County ordinance allowing cannabis production in an agricultural area allows only for its cultivation. It does not allow on-site sales or consumption.

Environmental Services Director Scott Refsland said Stefanie Ward and Theodore Refsland will be contract growers. They will raise the cannabis for a South Dakota company that is planning a Marshall site, he told the commissioners on April 21.

They will be using a raised bed system for growing the plants, Scott Refsland said. The plants will be grown in barrels that are cut in half.

In response to questions from the commissioners, he said the cannabis plants are “tagged” at the growing site. The tag stays with the product so it can be tracked to its end use.

O’Neill said the Planning Commission unanimously approved the recommendation for a permit after holding a public hearing earlier in April. There were no comments made at the hearing, she said.

The county has an ordinance allowing cannabis cultivation as required by state law. The Planning Commission found that the permit met all of the ordinance requirements for an agriculture activity.