HUDSON VALLEY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — On Thursday, members of New York’s Cannabis Control Board toured two Hudson Valley hemp farming operations. They reportedly use organic products and regenerative practices, representing the potential sustainability of the budding industry.

“Cannabis cultivation provides new opportunities for our farmers across New York,” said board member Jen Metzger. “The farms we visited provide exemplary models of sustainable and regenerative farming practices at different scales of cannabis cultivation.”

Metzger and Tremaine Wright—Chair of the Cannabis Control Board—visited Hepworth Farms in Milton and Earthborn Garden in Hillsdale. Hepworth in Saratoga County grows 400 organic vegetable varieties alongside hemp at a farm that’s been in the same family for seven generations. Meanwhile, Earthborn Garden in Columbia County relies on “micro-ecosystems” to promote agricultural growth.

“Visiting these farms showed us that our farmers are already leading the way on sustainability,” Wright said. “We can build a successful cannabis industry that supports those who are struggling, enhances the environment, and delivers economic and social justice.”

The Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act has some of the strongest environmental protections in the nation. The board members said they will develop and implement regulations supporting those protections. Retail license applicants must show sustainability in their own operations as well.

The tour follows the first meeting of the Cannabis Control Board, which was held on October 5, less than two weeks after it was fully constituted on September 22.