Grace McAlister
Reporter1@riverbendnews.org
Six years after Florida voters approved a medical marijuana ballot measure and six months after the Department of Health accepted applications, the first Black-owned business received its license to grow and sell marijuana for medicinal use.
The Florida Department of Health, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, announced it had issued a written notice of intent to approve a medical marijuana license for Gwinn Brothers Farm. The application listed “Gwinn Brothers Medicinals” as the fictitious name of the operation.
Donnell and Robert Gwinn have been farming together at Gwinn Brothers Farm in McAlpin for over 25 years. They have a rich farming heritage in Suwannee County and are well-known and respected throughout Florida and South Georgia for their expertise in farming and conservation efforts. On their 1,137-acre farm, the Gwinn brothers produce peanuts, iron clay peas, bahiagrass seed, hay, beef cattle and, at one point, were best known for their premium watermelons, which are sold locally and throughout the eastern United States. Today, the duo is not just known for their delicious watermelons or the copious amount of peanuts they provide for the Hershey Chocolate Company. Donnell and Robert are now in line to be the state’s newest medical marijuana operators, beating out 11 other applicants competing for a license earmarked for a Black farmer with ties to Florida. This is a result of the 2017 Pigford lawsuits.
Sixty-nine-year-old Donnell is part of a group of Black farmers who sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) over racial discrimination in allotting farm loans in the 1980s and 1990s. The Pigford class, named after the “Pigford v. Glickman” moniker of the case, was due to receive one medical marijuana license after the Legislature passed a measure in 2017 implementing the ballot measure approved by voters. But a lawsuit challenging the new law held up the process, and the case was not resolved until 2021.
The law’s requirement that one license must go to a member of the Pigford class has now been fulfilled. Thanks to a change in state law made this year, the applicants who were not granted the license can roll over their $146,000 application fee to apply for the next batch of open licenses. The Gwinn brothers are leaders in implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) and generously share their knowledge and experience with neighboring growers. According to the Suwannee County Farm Bureau, “Gwinn Brothers Farm is a model for environmental stewardship.” By following a conservation plan developed by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the Gwinn brothers have succeeded in conserving precious topsoil and improving water quality, plant and animal health and wildlife habitat.
Conservation measures implemented on the farm include herbaceous wind barriers, cover crops, conservation crop rotation, prescribed grazing, nutrient management, pest management, irrigation water management and upland wildlife habitat management.
Donnell and Robert Gwinn are both conservation and industry leaders. The Suwannee County Conservation District has also recognized them as Conservation Farmers of the Year. Donnell served as a district supervisor for the Suwannee County Conservation District and currently serves as an adviser to the Suwannee County Farm Service Agency County Operating Committee.
The selection of Gwinn also comes from a proposed constitutional amendment to be listed on the 2024 ballot that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Florida. Trulieve, the state’s largest medical marijuana company, has contributed $10 million to help launch the initiative. The Adult Personal Use of Marijuana proposal would allow people 21 years-of-age or older to possess, purchase or use marijuana products for nonmedical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion or otherwise.