Application season for hemp growers and processors opened this weekend.

Pennsylvania's Department of Agriculture started taking applications on Saturday and will continue through April 1. Last year, the department started letting farmers grow hemp for profit for the first time, and in Butler County four such applications were issued.

New this year is the requirement that processing facilities go through a similar application process to growers. Several of the hemp farmers in Butler County this year predicted the business will develop rapidly in the area once better processing options become available locally.

To grow hemp in Pennsylvania, the plan must test for below a 0.3 percent threshold for tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The limitation keeps hemp plants far from the levels of THC that give marijuana its psychoactive properties.

Along with the requirements for processing, the department added a few new requirements for 2020. Hemp can't be grown within 1,000 feet of a school or public recreational area. The plant also can't be grown in or within 200 feet of a residential structure.

Hemp growth became legal in 2017 in Pennsylvania for research purchases. The 2018 federal Farm Bill paved the way for last year's commercial program.

Applications are available online through the Department of Agriculture's website. Permits cost $150.

An interactive map on the department's website shows where permitted hemp farming facilities are located throughout the state.