The Poughkeepsie Journal reports that New York announced 52 approved cannabis growing licenses April 14, with several local farmers included. There was one licensee in Albany County, three in Columbia County, six in Dutchess County, four in Schoharie County, one in Delaware County, and two in Ulster County. Aeterna Cannabis LLC, Claverack Farm LLC, and Fat Nell LLC. were the three growers authorized in Columbia County by the state Cannabis Control Board. Announcing the first cannabis growers now will allow for spring planting and an October harvest, said Allan Gandelman, a Cortland-based hemp grower and the president of the New York Cannabis Growers and Processors Association. “We have a narrow window here. Most people are planting cannabis in our area around May and June. So we’re pretty much there,” said Gandelman. Farmers are limited to a combination of up to one acre of flowering canopy outdoors or a little more than half that space in a greenhouse. “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,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a press release. Read more about this story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.