Hemp

Florida ag department now regulating hemp and CBD products with new rules, permits

Agriculture officials in Florida are now tracking and regulating CBD and hemp products, a change prompted by a state law that took effect Jan. 1.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services oversee products containing hemp and CBD ingredients that are consumed by humans and animals.

They also manage the regulatory structure for hemp production.

Maine hemp farmers want relaxed THC rules, lower fees

The state wants to change the way it differentiates hemp from marijuana to echo stricter federal guidelines.

Farmers are speaking out against Maine’s plan to adopt stricter, more costly hemp farming rules, urging state agriculture officials to lower licensing costs and not change how they measure the small amount of psychoactive element found in this cannabis crop.

New task force sets out to standardize hemp sampling methods, analysis

There are benchmarks and standards for nearly everything when it comes to agricultural production, but not everyone is always using the same methods or using them in the same tactical way – especially in a nascent industry such as hemp.

That’s why a new task force commissioned by the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) is aiming to find out how different companies, organizations and government agencies across the United States and internationally are measuring and analyzing hemp samples for flower, fiber, food and other uses.

Ohio getting hemp rules in place for spring planting of new cash crop

The Buckeye State is among the first to receive federal approval for a statewide program to cultivate hemp.

Drive through southern Ohio this summer, and you might be surprised to see acres of cannabis plants swaying in the breeze.

These bushy annuals won’t be the kind that produce marijuana. Farmers are hoping to grow hemp, and industry experts think a few thousand acres could be in the ground by spring.

Lawmaker plans legislation to legalize hemp in Idaho

BOISE – An Idaho lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that will make hemp legal in the state.

Republican Rep. Dorothy Moon told the Idaho Press the legislation will align Idaho with federal law.

Lawmakers begin meeting Monday. Previous attempts to legalize hemp have failed over concerns it could be used to hide marijuana.

Hemp cultivation fraught with legal grey areas for growers, processors

The 2018 Farm Bill converted hemp from a highly controlled substance to a highly regulated commodity and, in the process, created a program fraught with legal peril to the uninitiated.

David Bush, a partner with the Denver-based Hoban Law Group, which specializes in hemp and marijuana law, told Tuesday’s Harnessing Hemp symposium that growers shouldn’t try to navigate the legal minefield around hemp without good legal advice.

With Federal Rules Looming, Can Hemp Farmers Still Strike Gold?

Many American farmers were handed seeds of opportunity in October, when the United States Department of Agriculture released its much-anticipated regulations for farming hemp. The new federal rules came nearly a year after Congress legalized hemp farming, and almost half a decade after the Colorado Department of Agriculture established its own program for farming hemp. And this state's rules don't exactly line up with the ones just announced by the feds.

In Virginia, industrial hemp is poised to be a fast growing sector of agriculture

“We do grams, eighths, quarters, half ounces, pounds, wholesale pounds — however you want it,” Jacob Stretch said, standing between crates of dried hemp in his living room that doubles as his hemp processing and drying facility. Stretch, owner of Chesapeake Blue, just finished his first season growing industrial hemp as a registered grower and processor on his family’s farm.

CDA certifies four new hemp varieties

The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) has approved four new industrial hemp seed varieties, bringing the total number of approved industrial hemp seed varieties in Colorado to 17.

Following a year-long, statewide THC validation and observation trial period, the newly approved industrial hemp seeds are now eligible to be grown by members of the Colorado Seed Growers Association (CSGA) for production of CDA Approved Certified Seed.