Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday announced the federal Department of Agriculture signed off on Colorado’s management plan for its hemp industry, granting the state autonomy to regulate the crop nearly a decade after voters enshrined its legalization in the state constitution.

“The sky is the limit,” Polis said during a news conference at a Longmont hemp farm as he touted the growth of the industry. “Now with this in place, this can remove some of the risks from farmers that grow hemp.”

The federal approval of the program is the latest step in hemp’s comeback in Colorado, which has been underway since voters approved Amendment 64 in 2012 while the crop was still categorized as a Schedule I drug.

Two years later, an amendment backed by Polis to the federal Farm Bill paved the way for the long-banned crop’s legalization at the federal level by allowing research institutions and state ag departments to launch hemp-growing pilot programs. The 2018 version of that bill legalized hemp at the federal level and gave states an opportunity to hold regulatory authority over the crop by submitting a management plan to the USDA.

According to Polis, Colorado’s plan has been approved, a move he said will bring “certainty for the industry” that operated on the fringes of federal legality at its outset. The uncertain federal status led to challenges with banking, insurance and grants before hemp was removed from Schedule I classification.

The governor said the state’s hemp plan is “sending the message that Colorado is good for ag and open for business.”

“For the first time, hemp farmers are able to access the same benefits as all other crop farmers,” he said.

But perhaps the most exciting moment for Polis at the press conference came in presenting a quote from country music star and hemp advocate Willie Nelson, which was printed and displayed on an easel.

“Colorado should be proud of leading the charge for the hemp industry,” Nelson said in a statement. “There are many ways that this crop can benefit both small, family farmers and Americans in their everyday lives.”

State Ag Commissioner Kate Greenberg also homed in on the family farming angle, touting the regulatory control the state holds as an “important tool” in “keeping family farmers alive.”

“I think we have a very bright future ahead,” she said. “We are looking at all kinds of opportunities for small scale family ag to be a leader in this industry … keeping family farming alive and thriving here in Colorado.”