Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
High Anxiety: Proposed US Hemp Rules Worry Industry
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
January 13, 2020

Share

PORTLAND, Ore. — Hemp growers and entrepreneurs who were joyous a year ago after U.S. lawmakers reclassified the plant as a legal agricultural crop now are worried their businesses could be crippled if federal policymakers move ahead with draft regulations.

“Their business is to support farmers — and not punish farmers — and the rules as they’re written right now punish farmers. There’s just a lot of confusion, and people are just looking for leadership.” Dove Oldham, who last year grew an acre of hemp on her family farm in Grants Pass, Oregon
Licenses for hemp cultivation topped a half-million acres last year, more than 450% above 2018 levels, so there’s intense interest in the rules the U.S. government is creating. Critical comments on the draft have poured in from hemp farmers, processors, retailers and state governments.
Growers are concerned the government wants to use a heavy hand that could result in many crops failing required tests and being destroyed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency writing the rules, estimates 20% of hemp lots would fail under the draft regulations.
“Their business is to support farmers — and not punish farmers — and the rules as they’re written right now punish farmers,” said Dove Oldham, who last year grew an acre of hemp on her family farm in Grants Pass, Oregon. “There’s just a lot of confusion, and people are just looking for leadership.”
The USDA did not respond to the criticism but has taken the unusual step of extending the public comment period by a month, until Jan. 29. The agency told The Associated Press it will analyze information from this year’s growing season before releasing its final rules, which would take effect in 2021.
Agricultural officials in states that run pilot hemp cultivation programs under an earlier federal provision are weighing in with formal letters to the USDA.
Photo of teabags filled with hemp
In this Dec. 17, 2019, photo, Sarah Sall, an employee of The Brothers Apothecary, makes teabags filled with hemp and other botanicals at the company warehouse in Portland, Ore. The co-owner of the tea company is concerned that interim hemp farming rules put out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will destroy his supply chain of hemp and hurt the rapidly growing hemp industry. (AP Photo/Gillian Flaccus)

Many Have Credited CBD With Helping Ease Pain

“There are 46 states where hemp is legal, and I’m going to say that every single state has raised concerns to us about something within the rule. They might be coming from different perspectives, but every state has raised concerns,” said Aline DeLucia, director of public policy for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
Most of the anxiety involves how the federal government plans to test for THC, the high-inducing compound found in marijuana and hemp, both cannabis plants. The federal government and most states consider plants with tiny amounts — 0.3% or less — to be hemp. Anything above that is marijuana and illegal under federal law.
Yet another cannabis compound has fueled the explosion in hemp cultivation. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is marketed as a health and wellness aid and infused in everything from food and drinks to lotions, toothpaste and pet treats.
Many have credited CBD with helping ease pain, increase sleep and reduce anxiety. But scientists caution not enough is known about its health effects, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year targeted nearly two dozen companies for making CBD health claims.
Still, the CBD market is increasing at a triple-digit rate and could have $20 billion in sales by 2024, according to a recent study by BDS Analytics, a marketing analysis firm that tracks cannabis industry trends.
About 80% of the 18,000 farmers licensed for hemp cultivation are in the CBD market, said Eric Steenstra, president of the advocacy group Vote Hemp. The remaining 20% grow hemp for its fiber, used in everything from fabric to construction materials, or its grain, which is added to health foods.

Many Permit More Harvesting Time for Growers After THC Testing

But hemp is a notoriously fickle crop. Conditions such as sunlight, moisture and soil composition determine its ratio of THC to CBD. Choosing the right harvesting window is critical to ensuring it stays within acceptable THC levels.
Under the draft USDA rules, farmers have no wiggle room. They must harvest within 15 days of testing their crop for THC, and the samples must be sent to a lab certified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Samples must be from the top of the plant, where THC levels are highest, and the final measurement must include not just THC, but also THCA, a nonpsychoactive component.
Crops that test above 0.3% for the two combined must be destroyed. Growers with crops above 0.5% would be considered in “negligent violation,” and those with repeated violations could be suspended from farming hemp.
In addition, a pilot program for federal crop insurance that would be available to hemp growers in some states specifies that crops lost because of high THC levels won’t be covered.
Those provisions are causing alarm among growers and states with pilot hemp programs allowed under the 2014 Farm Bill. Some states allow THC levels above 0.3%, and not all include THCA in that calculation. Many permit more harvesting time for growers after THC testing.
Farmers are lobbying for a 1% THC limit and a 30-day harvest window to give them more flexibility while remaining well under THC levels that can get people high.
The draft regulations don’t “seem to be informed by the reality of the crop,” said Jesse Richardson, who with his brother sells CBD-infused teas and capsules under the brand The Brothers Apothecary.

Photo of a plant manager readying a field for hemp crops
FILE – In this April 23, 2018, file photo, Trevor Eubanks, plant manager for Big Top Farms, readies a field for another hemp crop near Sisters, Ore. Draft rules released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a new and booming agricultural hemp industry have alarmed farmers, processors and retailers across the country, who say the provisions will be crippling if they are not significantly overhauled before they become final. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

Concerns Also Have Emerged About the Workload

“If no one can produce (federally) compliant hemp flower, then there will be no CBD oil on the market.”

“The 15-day window — that’s not feasible, and that was on a small scale. I can’t imagine farmers who have acres and acres and acres of it.” — Samantha Ford, a third-generation farmer in North Carolina
Growers are also worried about the proposed rule requiring that all THC testing be done in a DEA-certified lab because there are so few of them. Some states have only one, which would have to serve hundreds of growers in a short harvest window.
Samantha Ford, a third-generation farmer in North Carolina, waited two weeks to get back THC results from a lab last fall and then spent 45 days harvesting her 1 acre (0.40 hectares) of hemp by hand.
“The 15-day window — that’s not feasible, and that was on a small scale,” she said. “I can’t imagine farmers who have acres and acres and acres of it.”
Concerns also have emerged about the workload the draft rules would place on states. Many do random sampling for THC levels, but the USDA would require five samples from every hemp lot — a burden for state agricultural departments, said DeLucia, of the national ag agencies group.
If federal rules are too onerous and expensive, some states might drop their hemp programs. In those cases, farmers would have to apply for licenses with the USDA, and at this stage it’s unclear how U.S. officials would manage or pay for a nationwide licensing program, DeLucia said.
Under the 2018 Farm Bill, the USDA must approve state plans for hemp programs. Louisiana, Ohio and New Jersey last month were the first to get the green light — but those plans might need to be reworked after final rules are written.
“What we don’t want to see is states having to write their rules and then have to change the rules again and rewrite them” after 2021, said Steenstra, of Vote Hemp.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation During Burglary Faces Life Without Parole

DON'T MISS

What Local Politicians, LGBT Community Say About Trans Track Star

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Arrested After Stolen City Vehicle Pursuit, Fires in Madera County

DON'T MISS

Former MLB All-Star Breaks Ground on BMW/Porsche/Audi Dealership in Clovis

DON'T MISS

Fresno, Clovis to Open Cooling Centers as Temperatures Expected to Soar

DON'T MISS

Costco Misses Quarterly Revenue Expectations Amid Reduced Consumer Spending

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Authorities Respond to Double Shooting in Goshen

DON'T MISS

US Appeals Court Reinstates Trump Tariffs, Sowing Market Confusion

DON'T MISS

A Program Paying CA Jurors $100 a Day Would End Due to Newsom’s Budget Cuts

DON'T MISS

Some Glaciers Will Vanish No Matter What, Study Finds

UP NEXT

Harvard Agrees to Relinquish Early Photos of Slaves, Ending a Long Legal Battle

UP NEXT

Silence on E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety

UP NEXT

Trump Pardons Tax Cheat After Mother Attends $1 Million Dinner

UP NEXT

NPR Sues Trump Administration Over Executive Order to Cut Funding

UP NEXT

Justice Department Reaches Deal to Allow Boeing to Avoid Prosecution Over 737 Max Crashes

UP NEXT

Low-Income Compton Students Get $225M State-of-the-Art High School Campus

UP NEXT

Everyone Now Has an Opinion on Jake Tapper

UP NEXT

Braves Star Ronald Acuña Jr. to Return Friday From Left Knee Injury

UP NEXT

Dave Shapiro, Groundbreaking Music Executive, Dies in San Diego Plane Crash at 42

UP NEXT

CA State Senator Cited for Suspicion of Impaired Driving, Says She Wasn’t Intoxicated

Former MLB All-Star Breaks Ground on BMW/Porsche/Audi Dealership in Clovis

14 hours ago

Fresno, Clovis to Open Cooling Centers as Temperatures Expected to Soar

14 hours ago

Costco Misses Quarterly Revenue Expectations Amid Reduced Consumer Spending

15 hours ago

Tulare County Authorities Respond to Double Shooting in Goshen

15 hours ago

US Appeals Court Reinstates Trump Tariffs, Sowing Market Confusion

15 hours ago

A Program Paying CA Jurors $100 a Day Would End Due to Newsom’s Budget Cuts

15 hours ago

Some Glaciers Will Vanish No Matter What, Study Finds

16 hours ago

Dealmaker or Duped? Trump’s Embrace of Putin Shows Few Results

16 hours ago

Fresno Will Build New Firehouse, Replacing ‘Temporary’ Station After 50 Years

16 hours ago

Canada Wants to Kill 400 Ostriches. RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz Want to Save Them.

16 hours ago

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation During Burglary Faces Life Without Parole

A Tulare County jury has convicted a Porterville man of molesting a 4-year-old girl during a home burglary in 2020, prosecutors said Thursda...

13 hours ago

Serafin Narcisco, 44, of Porterville, was convicted on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, of molesting a 4-year-old girl during a 2020 home burglary. (Tulare County SO)
13 hours ago

Tulare County Man Convicted of Child Molestation During Burglary Faces Life Without Parole

13 hours ago

What Local Politicians, LGBT Community Say About Trans Track Star

A man accused of stealing a City of Fresno vehicle was arrested Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Madera County after a pursuit that sparked small fires and ended with a crash. (Madera County SO)
13 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested After Stolen City Vehicle Pursuit, Fires in Madera County

14 hours ago

Former MLB All-Star Breaks Ground on BMW/Porsche/Audi Dealership in Clovis

14 hours ago

Fresno, Clovis to Open Cooling Centers as Temperatures Expected to Soar

15 hours ago

Costco Misses Quarterly Revenue Expectations Amid Reduced Consumer Spending

Tulare County sheriff’s detectives are investigating a double shooting in Goshen after two people were found wounded Thursday, May 29, 2025. (Tulare County SO)
15 hours ago

Tulare County Authorities Respond to Double Shooting in Goshen

15 hours ago

US Appeals Court Reinstates Trump Tariffs, Sowing Market Confusion

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend