FarmVille Candy Cane crop now available to grow for charity

We've been keeping tabs on the new Candy Cane crop in FarmVille over the past few weeks, and are happy to report that the crop is now available to grow in the game!

As we've told you, this crop is a premium crop, that can be grown only by those who purchase a permit to do so. 100% of the proceeds earned through the purchase of permits to grow the Candy Canes will go to support the UCSF Benoiff Children's Hospital.

As with previous charity crops in FarmVille, you can purchase the permit for one of three Farm Cash amounts, depending on how much you'd personally like to donate to the charity. The increments are 25, 55, and a whopping 240 Farm Cash. Regardless of which permit you buy, they will all allow you to receive a 1 week permit to plant as many of these seeds as you wish. The Candy Canes cost 15 coins to plant, and are harvestable for 100 coins a square just four hours later. You'll earn 2 experience points for every square of the Candy Canes that you plant.

The Candy Cane crop can be mastered (you will earn a mastery sign if you do so to three stars - the first star is earned at 500 harvests), and they will never wither, regardless of how long you leave them unattended.

As of this writing, there is no expiration date listed alongside the Candy Canes, in terms of how long you have to purchase the permit from the time of its release. A good guess, though, would be that it will be available to purchase for as long as the holiday celebration lasts in FarmVille, presumably until the end of the year.

Check out the rest of our Holiday 2010 coverage right here.

Will you purchase the permit to plant Candy Canes in FarmVille? Are you doing so just to benefit charity, or because you want to show off an exclusive new mastery sign to your friends? Share you thoughts on this feature in the comments.