Florida Hemp License: Requirements, THC Testing, and Penalties

To grow, process, or sell hemp in Florida, you need a Florida hemp license from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), which runs the state’s program under Florida Statutes Section 581.217. There are two separate authorizations: a Hemp Cultivation License for growing the crop, and a Hemp Food Establishment Permit for handling, processing, or selling hemp extract products meant to be eaten or inhaled. If your business does both, you need both.¹

Which License You Need

The split is based on what you do with the plant, not how big your operation is. A farmer who grows hemp and ships raw biomass to someone else for processing needs only the cultivation license. The moment that same farmer starts extracting oil, formulating tinctures, or packaging edibles, the food establishment permit also applies, with its own facility inspection, sanitation rules, and annual fee.

Cultivating even a single plant without a license is illegal in Florida, and selling hemp extract products without the right permit can trigger fines and stop-sale orders.

Hemp Cultivation License

The cultivation application goes through the FDACS online portal. There is no filing fee for the license itself, but you pay for your own background checks.

Location Documentation

You must submit GPS coordinates for every location where hemp will be planted or stored, the legal land description, and the tax parcel number for each site. You also need proof of legal control of the land, either a deed or a valid lease.²

Inaccurate coordinates aren’t a paperwork glitch. FDACS treats them as a negligent violation and can require a corrective action plan.

Background Checks

Every person with a controlling role in the operation must submit a full set of fingerprints for state and national criminal history screening.¹

One disqualifier is absolute. A felony conviction related to a controlled substance under state or federal law bars you from holding a license for 10 years from the date of conviction. FDACS will also deny any application containing falsified information.²

Hemp Food Establishment Permit

If your business distributes products containing hemp or hemp extract for human consumption, you need a Hemp Food Establishment Permit. The annual fee is $650.³

Facility Standards

Your facility must meet Florida’s minimum construction standards and sanitation requirements, which track closely with standard food safety practices. Before FDACS issues the permit, you must document an approved water source and a functioning sewage or septic system. A field inspector from the FDACS Division of Food Safety visits the site before final approval.

Who You Can Sell To

Hemp extract products intended for ingestion or inhalation may not be sold to anyone under 21. Selling to a minor is a second-degree misdemeanor, and a second offense within the same year escalates to a first-degree misdemeanor.²

Products that are mislabeled or designed to appeal to children are subject to an immediate stop-sale order, with additional penalties under Florida’s food safety enforcement provisions.²

How to Apply

Both authorizations are managed through the FDACS online portal. Cultivation applicants upload location documentation, proof of land control, and fingerprint submissions. Food establishment applicants upload facility documentation and pay the $650 fee.

FDACS reviews the submitted data and confirms that background checks have cleared. If something is missing or incorrect, the department will notify you and give you a window to fix it rather than reject the application outright. Cultivation applicants may also receive a site inspection to verify an environmental containment plan before final approval.⁴

What It Really Costs

The sticker price undersells the real startup number. Plan for:

Cultivation license filing fee: none.
Fingerprinting: typically $10 to $100 per person for Livescan, paid individually by everyone who undergoes a background check.
Pre-harvest THC lab testing: generally $100 to $250 per sample, required for every lot before harvest.
Food establishment permit: $650 annually.³
Facility upgrades: whatever it takes to meet construction, sanitation, water, and sewage standards for the food establishment permit, which can be significant depending on existing infrastructure.

Growers planning multiple harvests or several distinct lots should budget for multiple rounds of lab testing. A failed test that forces a retest or crop destruction compounds the cost fast.

Keeping the License: THC Testing and Records

Compliance under Rule 5B-57.014 is where most of the ongoing work lives.

Pre-Harvest Sampling

Before harvesting any lot, you must have the crop sampled and tested to confirm total delta-9 THC does not exceed 0.3 percent on a dry-weight basis. Sampling must happen within 30 days of your anticipated harvest date, and the lab must be DEA-registered and accredited under ISO/IEC 17025:2017.⁴

Total THC is not just the delta-9 reading. When labs use liquid chromatography, they also measure THCA (the acid precursor that converts to THC when heated) and apply the federal formula: total THC equals delta-9 THC plus 87.7 percent of the THCA content.⁵

This catches growers who test only for delta-9 and assume they’re safe. A sample reading 0.2 percent delta-9 with elevated THCA can easily push past the 0.3 percent total threshold once the conversion is applied.

If a Lot Fails

You can request a retest. If the lot still fails, the non-compliant material must be destroyed according to FDACS waste disposal procedures, and the overage counts as a negligent violation requiring a corrective action plan.²

Records and Renewal

Keep detailed records for at least three years, including lab certificates, inventory logs, and transaction records. FDACS can request them at any time. Renewal is annual, through the same online portal, with an updated application.⁴

Penalties if You Slip

Florida separates negligent violations from intentional misconduct, and the consequences scale accordingly.

Negligent Violations

Inaccurate location data, operating without proper authorization, and growing hemp above 0.3 percent THC are all negligent violations. Each one triggers a corrective action plan with a deadline for fixing the problem and at least two years of compliance reporting to FDACS.²

Three negligent violations within five years result in a five-year ban from cultivating hemp in Florida. One corrective action plan puts you two mistakes away from losing the license for half a decade.²

Intentional Violations

If FDACS determines a licensee acted with a mental state worse than negligence, the department must immediately report the licensee to both the Florida Attorney General and the United States Attorney General, and the matter leaves the administrative system for criminal prosecution.²

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 581.217 – State Hemp Program
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 581.217 – State Hemp Program
3
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code 5K-4.034 – Hemp Extract for Human Consumption
4
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code 5B-57.014 – State Hemp Program
5
eCFR. 7 CFR 990.1 – Meaning of Terms