Farming hemp

Farming hemp

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
With the removal of hemp from the list of controlled substances, interest in the crop exploded across the country. As states legalized hemp production within their borders, farmers rushed to grow this promising new crop. However, from 2019 to 2020 acres planted to hemp declined dramatically, according to USDA’s Farm Service Agency, with the top three states – Montana, Colorado and Kentucky – accounting for 78% of the decline. Area planted in those states dropped by over 61,000 acres, which is nearly as many acres as the 68,000 acres planted across the entire country in 2020.

The Department of Agriculture just published a final rule clarifying regulations for U.S. hemp production. Final hemp rules issued by the USDA should ease the regulatory burden on hemp farmers, according to the American Farm Bureau's Scott Bennett, who says the final rule will change sampling and testing requirements. “New alternative methods simply must have the potential to ensure that at a confidence level of 95 percent, the plant will not test above the acceptable THC level. The rule also modified the sampling timeline. The interim final rule gave a 15 day window to collect samples before harvest, that now sits at a 30 day window. “

The Farm Bureau says the final rule also changes regulations regarding negligence and disposal. “This final rule raises the negligence threshold from point five percent to one percent THC and limits the maximum number of negligent violations that a producer can receive to one per calendar year. The final rule also provides additional flexibility for farmers who can now dispose of a crop on their own without the need of assistance from DEA or local law enforcement.”

The final rule is set to go into effect this spring, pending review by the Biden administration.

“The final rule goes into effect on March 22nd. However, the proposal of this rule at USDA at the end of 2020 causes it to sit inside the window of time by which President Biden will review all rulemaking.”

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