Hemp’s farm bill goals: Raised THC threshold, clearance as dietary supplement
Congress should encourage development of the hemp market by including provisions in the new farm bill that would allow the sale of hemp as a food additive and dietary supplement and raise the THC allowance for hemp plants, said the hemp industry on Wednesday. The 2018 farm bill legalized hemp, and its successor “could prove monumental for farmers and businesses,” said the industry.
Bills would allow CBD in supplements, foods, and beverages
Companion bills in the Senate and House would allow the hemp derivative cannabidiol, also known as CBD, to be used in dietary supplements, foods, and beverages, the bills’ four sponsors said on Thursday.
FDA asks Congress for help on CBD regulations
Pointing to a lack of scientific research, the FDA said on Thursday that it would not consider rulemaking for the use of cannabidiol products as dietary or food supplements or in animal feed. Instead, said principal deputy commissioner Janet Woodcock, the FDA wants to work with Congress on “a new regulatory pathway” for CBD.
More growers, less hemp in industry slowed by uncertainty, pandemic
The first year of nationwide cultivation of industrial hemp has been a mixture of retrenchment and optimism for growth in the longer term. "The industry isn't going to go away," said hemp entrepreneur Morris Beegle on Thursday. "It's going to become more of a whole-plant industry."
Hemp groups to push for checkoff program
Two trade groups announced plans to spearhead a discussion across the hemp industry on the creation of a checkoff program to promote industrial hemp, similar to producer-funded checkoffs that boost cotton, milk, and Christmas trees.
USDA to ease rules on hemp labs and destroying ‘hot’ crops
The government will allow farmers to destroy "hot" hemp fields themselves, rather than having to hire a contractor to do it, and will expand the number of laboratories that can test industrial hemp for THC levels, said Agriculture Undersecretary Greg Ibach on Wednesday.
‘Rough-and-tumble ride’ awaits hemp growers
Industrial hemp, an infant crop heading for its first year under national regulations, is likely be a small player in the farm sector, with a future like a rodeo ride, said panelists at the Ag Outlook Forum on Thursday. "This is going to be a rough-and-tumble ride," said Tyler Mark, a professor at the University of Kentucky.
Future of industrial hemp clouded by economic uncertainties
Challenges including competition for acreage, the threat of imports, and the necessity of building marketing networks "will determine patterns of development in the emerging U.S. hemp industry," said USDA economists in a report issued Wednesday.
Amid growing interest in hemp, USDA stands firm on rules
A lot of farmers will give industrial hemp a try this year, the first time cultivation is allowed nationwide, USDA officials predicted on Thursday. But they said there was no way they could allow more THC in hemp despite complaints that the limit of 0.3 percent is so low that some growers will be penalized unfairly for a "hot" crop.
USDA approves state hemp production plans
For all its cachet as a potential money-making crop for American farmers, industrial hemp ranked midway between safflower and flaxseed in plantings, with an estimated 230,000 acres in 2019, and industry leaders disagree whether 2020 will be a year of expansion or retrenchment. But the USDA is approving state plans to regulate hemp production and offering crop insurance for hemp growers, steps that could help establish the crop.
Hemp farming may be more pioneer life than Wild West
For all its Gold Rush aura, hemp farming may be more like life on the frontier, where everything must be built from the ground up, said advocates of industrial hemp on Thursday. Hemp can require a lot of manual labor to keep weeds under control, it’s hard to find processors for the crop, and marketing networks are rudimentary.
USDA embraces hemp as a crop, but many hurdles remain for growers
At the same time that the agency opened the gate for farmers across the nation to grow industrial hemp in 2020, the USDA tempered optimism about a new, money-making crop on Tuesday with caution of obstacles for an emerging industry. The hottest hemp product, cannabidiol (CBD), is sold in a …