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AmericanHort joins Amicus Brief to defend H-2A wage reform, as workforce concerns loom large for growers

Published

10 minutes ago

February 17, 2026

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AmericanHort has joined more than 25 agricultural organizations to file an amicus brief defending the Department of Labor’s (DOL) updated H-2A wage rule.

An amicus brief (“friend of the court”) is a legal document submitted by organizations not directly involved in a case to provide relevant information, expert opinion or legal arguments to influence the court’s decision.

The coalition says reform is essential to protect growers from unsustainable increases in labor costs and provide businesses with the stability they need. The lawsuit challenging the updated DOL rule is expected to introduce damaging uncertainty into the strained labor system essential to the operation of horticultural businesses.

The brief asks the court to throw back efforts to dismantle the Adverse Effects Wage Rate (AEWR) framework. AmericanHort supports the Interim Final Rule and views the updated methodology as a necessary step in restoring balance and predictability to the H-2A program. The horticulture industry needs stability to sustain production of houseplants and to keep businesses competitive.

“Labor stability is fundamental to sustaining American plant production,” said AmericanHort President and CEO Ken Fisher. “The updated H-2A wage methodology reflects the real economic conditions faced by growers, giving companies a framework within which they can plan while continuing to protect workers. The anticipated labor policy allows our industry to remain competitive, invest in growth and support the communities that depend on horticulture.”

It comes as Congress approaches another funding deadline, with appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ending at the end of the week. Although lawmakers have finalized 11 of the 12 regular spending bills for FY2026, DHS remains unresolved due to disagreements over immigration enforcement policy. If negotiations continue to stall, Congress may be forced to approve a short-term extension to avoid a disruption in operations.

For horticulture employers, the uncertainty surrounding DHS funding has real workforce implications. DHS oversees the agencies responsible for administering the seasonal visa programs that many greenhouse, nursery and landscape businesses use to maintain stable operations. A disruption or slowdown in DHS functions could create processing delays and uncertainty for employers already facing tight labor markets and rising production costs.

The compressed timeline is made more challenging by the president’s day off and several speeches that will take many lawmakers away from Capitol Hill. Democratic leaders have continued to demand policy changes as part of the negotiations, and Republicans and the Administration have expressed their opposition to several of these proposals, leaving no clear way forward.

For more information:
AmericanHort
Email: (email protected)
www.americanhort.org

Related Topics:AmericanHort Amicus concerns defend growers H2A joins Large loom Reform wage workforce

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EHIA pushes for whole plant recognition and 1% THC threshold

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Cannabis News

EHIA pushes for whole plant recognition and 1% THC threshold

Published

1 day ago

February 16, 2026

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The European Industrial Hemp Association has welcomed the European Commission’s proposal to clarify that all parts of the hemp plant fall within the EU’s agricultural scope, while reiterating its call for a harmonized THC threshold of 1%, in line with the ongoing review of the Common Agricultural Policy and the review of the Common Market Organization Regulation (EU) 1308/2013.

In its position paper entitled The hemp sector proposal for the 2028–2032 NPB, the EIHA set out a set of reforms aimed at strengthening legal certainty, competitiveness and sustainability for the European hemp sector. The proposals are expected to be debated in both the Council and Parliament in the coming months.

Recognition of the entire plant
EIHA expressed strong support for the Commission’s plan to expressly recognize all parts of the hemp plant, including leaves and flowers, as agricultural raw materials derived from authorized varieties. The association says this clarification is essential to end persistent legal uncertainty for farmers and processors, avoid divergent interpretations between member states, protect the internal market and provide clearer conditions for investment and innovation in the hemp value chain.

By formally recognizing the entire plant, the EU would resolve longstanding inconsistencies that have plagued the sector and promote greater regulatory uniformity.

1% THC threshold
Along with whole-plant recognition, EIHA continues to advocate for a harmonized EU-wide THC threshold of 1% for industrial hemp. The current limit of 0.3%, they say, no longer reflects agronomic and climatic reality. Environmental changes can push the crops they combine beyond their limits, exposing growers despite good faith farming practices.

According to EIHA, the 1% threshold would provide legal certainty and reduce climate-related crop losses, expand the EU variety catalog and improve seed availability, support research, breeding and innovation, align EU standards with international benchmarks and maintain a clear line between industrial hemp and narcotic cannabis. Industrial hemp cultivated below 1% THC remains non-intoxicating, and continues to meet consumer protections through EU legislation regulating THC levels in final products.

Francesco Mirizzi, the managing director of the EIHA, stated that the first practical steps must be taken to reach the 1% goal: “The first decisive step to reach the 1% limit is to sensitize the members of the EU Parliament and the national ministers that 0.3% does not make sense from an agronomic point of view and if we compare the EU’s vision with the countries that are more advanced, if we compare it with the new Switzerland. Zealand or South Africa”.

As things begin to move on the hemp side, Francesco says the timelines now begin with the first discussions in the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, although the challenges are already clear. “Discussions in the Parliamentary Agriculture Committee are expected to start next month, and member states are already debating the Commission’s proposal to allow the whole flower. Some member states are particularly reluctant, but we are confident that we will get there.”

EIHA says it stands ready to work constructively with EU institutions and Member States to ensure that the post-2027 NPB provides long-awaited clarity and competitiveness to the European hemp sector.

For more information:
European Industrial Hemp Association
(email protected)
eiha.org/

Cannabis News

Florida Marijuana Campaign Asks Supreme Court To Restore 71,000 Legalization Ballot Signatures State Officials Tossed

Published

1 day ago

February 16, 2026

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A Florida campaign has yet to throw in the towel on its proposal to put marijuana legalization on the November ballot, with an appeal of the nullification of about 71,000 signatures now in the state Supreme Court.

The courts again they recently agreed to drop a separate case involving a statutory review of the ballot measure From Smart & Safe Florida, he has now been given another case challenging the cancellation of the earlier mass signature.

The state’s First District Court of Appeals filed a notice calling for discretionary jurisdiction and a notice of appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on Monday, opening the door for voters to decide on legalization at the polls this year. This is, of course, conditional on the judges accepting the case and the campaign winning.

Smart & Safe Florida “states that approximately 70,000 petitions that have been declared invalid must be counted as the number of signed petitions needed to be placed on the ballot.” notice the states “Smart & Safe Florida asserts the discretionary jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court to review this court’s decision issued on January 23, 2026. The decision expressly affects a class of constitutional or state officers.”

In December, advocates filed a lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court alleging that Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R) illegally ordered county election officials to invalidate about 42,000 signatures from so-called “inactive” voters and about 29,000 signatures collected by out-of-state petitioners.

That lawsuit came after another court upheld an earlier decision to strike with about 200,000 signatures, which the state said were invalid because the petition did not include the full text of the proposed initiative. The campaign challenged the legal interpretation, but declined to appeal the decision, confident it had collected enough signatures to settle the dispute.

Smart & Safe Florida has generally disputed the secretary of state’s signature count, confirming that the campaign has submitted more than 1.4 million petitions, hundreds of thousands more than the 880,062 valid signatures needed before voters.

In a recent filing with the Supreme Court, Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) said his office was withdrawing a previous request for legal review of the constitutionality of the proposed cannabis initiative because the state claimed it did not have enough petitions signed by the campaign. The final count, according to the secretary of state, was 783,592 validated signatures.

In a brief response, Smart & Safe Florida said the Secretary of State’s campaign did not meet the requirements to be on the ballot because “the sponsor did not meet the signature threshold in light of the cancellations that the sponsor contests.”

In return for the signature, Florida’s attorney general and several businesses and anti-marijuana groups has asked the state Supreme Court to block the cannabis initiativecalling it a “fatal flaw” and unconstitutional.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Legal Foundation and Judge Frank Shepherd filed another joint document, stating that the parties “remain particularly vigilant about the abuse of the citizen initiative process by out-of-state interests who believe that Florida is another market and that the citizen initiative process is another means of exploiting that market.”

The Florida Chamber of Commerce has consistently opposed attempts to move forward with adult-use legalization, as well his polls have shown a majority in favor of reform.

The campaign fought several legal battles this cycle to get its initiative on the ballot.

Last month, the state attorney general’s office opened dozens of criminal investigations and issued records subpoenas to Smart & Safe Florida and its contractors and subcontractors over alleged fraud related to the application effort.

Activists said in November they had collected more than a million signatures to put the cannabis measure on the ballot, but still He has sued state Supreme Court officials for delaying the certification processarguing that the review of ballot content and summary should have gone ahead several months ago when the initial signature threshold was reached. The state then he agreed to proceed with the processing.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) campaigned hard against an earlier version of the legalization proposal, which received a majority of voters in 2024 but fell short of the 60 percent threshold needed to pass a constitutional amendment. Former Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) unsuccessfully challenged the earlier initiative in court.

Last March, however, two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida asked the federal government to investigate What they described as an “illegal diversion” of millions in state Medicaid funds Through a group with ties to DeSantis. The money was used to fight a popular ballot initiative the governor vehemently opposed that would have legalized adult marijuana.

The lawmakers’ letter alleges that a $10 million donation from a state legislative settlement was misappropriated to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, and sent $8.5 million to the anti-Amendment 3 campaign.

The governor said last February The latest measure to legalize marijuana is in “big trouble” with the state Supreme Courthe announced that it would be blocked from going before the voters this year.

“There are a lot of different views on marijuana,” DeSantis said. “It shouldn’t be in our Constitution. If you feel strongly about it, you have a legislative election. Bring back the candidates you think will be able to deliver what you think about it.”

“But when you put these things in the Constitution, and I think, I mean, the way they were written, there’s all kinds of things going on here. I think it’s going to have a lot of trouble getting passed by the Florida Supreme Court,” he said.

the last the initiative It was introduced to the secretary of state just months after initial versions failed in the November 2024 election, despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

Smart & Safe Florida expressed optimism that the revised version would be successful in 2026. The campaign — which received tens of millions of dollars from cannabis industry players in the last election cycle, notably from multi-state operator Trulieve — introduced some changes in the new version that address criticisms of the 2024 push by opponents.

For example, it now specifically states that “smoking and vaping marijuana in any public place is prohibited.” Another section states that the legislature should adopt rules governing the “time, place and public manner of consuming marijuana.”

In 2023, the governor accurately predicted this The campaign’s 2024 cannabis measure would survive a legal challenge From the state attorney general. It’s not entirely clear why he thinks this version will face a different outcome.

Although there is uncertainty about how the state’s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released last February It showed the overwhelming support of a bipartisan voter for reform— 67% of Florida voters support legalization, including 82% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 55% of Republicans.

—
It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters by pledging at least $25/month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts, and audio calendars so you never miss a development.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracking and become a Patreon supporter to gain access
—

In the background, a recent survey by a Trump-linked research firm found this Nearly 9 in 10 Florida voters say they should have the right to decide whether to legalize marijuana in the state

Meanwhile, last week, Florida senators passed an amended bill to increase the amount of medical marijuana a registered patient can purchase and reduce the fee for medical cannabis identification cards for military veterans.

The vote was approved by the Regulated Industries Committee in the Senate separate legislation to prohibit the smoking or vaping of marijuana in public places. Rep. Alex Andrade (R) sponsors a similar one bill to ban public smoking of cannabis at home

Here’s an overview of some of the pending Florida marijuana bills:

Photo elements courtesy of the user rawpixel and Philip Steffan.

Marijuana Moment is made possible with the help of readers. If you rely on our pro-cannabis journalism to stay informed, consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

Cannabis News

California grower completes installation of 7,000 new lights

Published

2 days ago

February 15, 2026

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Green Horizons is moving into a new phase advertisement They share that the installation of 7,000 new lights in all flower rooms of its facilities marks the largest infrastructure investment the company has made since starting operations.

“In our first 12 months of operation, we focused on branding our process,” the company said. “We built our systems, developed our in-house skills and produced a flower we are proud of.”

According to them, the expansion of the lighting allows for a 100% increase in monthly production capacity, from around 2,000 kilos to more than 4,000 per month. The facility operates on a ten-day harvest cycle, and following the renovation, each flower room is expected to consistently produce yields of over 1,000 kilos per cycle. “We harvest every 10 days, and each cycle will now yield a thousand kilos of gel,” says the company.

They go on to explain that the expansion was necessary because market demand exceeded existing production levels. “Our flower is pre-sold for the bulk market, including new production coming online.” The time to go online with this facility is not right, but the team is also planned with this thing. “We are growing on schedule and expanding our capacity to bring the highest quality flowers to California,” the company said.

The company has proudly shared what the operation looks like for now, and they didn’t mince words to describe it. “This is what a scaled operation looks like when it hits its stride,” the company concludes.

For more information:
Green Horizons
www.greenhorizons.io