Socially disadvantaged farmers including those in the hemp industry are in line for new debt-relief funds in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan of 2021. The legislation, which passed in the U.S. Senate Saturday and awaits changes and a final vote in the House, directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make payments to Black
USDA
The nationwide hemp rules are taking effect March 22 as planned, with no additional delay or review because of the changed administration at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA gave notice Monday that the rules have been reviewed and are cleared to take effect as planned. The USDA was giving the hemp plan a
Federal agriculture officials plan to collect hemp acreage and production data from thousands of U.S. farmers in the coming months. The U.S. Department of Agriculture published a notice in the Federal Register late last month, requesting permission to gather data about hemp production from the White House. Though the type of data USDA is after
Jillian Hishaw (Editor’s note: This story is part of a recurring series of commentaries from professionals connected to the hemp industry. Jillian Hishaw is an agricultural strategist and former U.S. Department of Agriculture Adjudicator of the Office to the Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights. She’s now Founder & CEO of Family Agriculture Resource Management Services
Hemp farmers may have seen something new in their mailboxes this winter, as federal agriculture officials prepare for the 2022 Census of Agriculture, which will include hemp farmers for the first time. Over the last two months, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service sent “content tests” to a sample of 36,000 producers
Three weeks after clearing his Senate agriculture committee hearing, the full Senate voted 92-7 Tuesday to confirm Tom Vilsack as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack, an Iowan, served in the same role for all eight years of the Obama administration, and oversaw the USDA during passage and implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill, which
In the United States currently, humans can eat foods made from hemp – yet we can’t legally eat meat or eggs from animals that have eaten hemp. But with recent action by the Hemp Feed Coalition (HFC), a Fort Collins, Colorado-based nonprofit seeking to gain federal approval for hemp and its byproducts as a source
Montana is considering a new requirement that medical marijuana growers keep their operations confined to indoor environments, leaving the outdoors for hemp production only. A state Senate committee Thursday heard from hemp and marijuana growers on the bill that aims to prevent cross-pollination between hemp and marijuana, the (Helena) Independent Record reported. The bill would
Hemp farmers have a number of choices and sources for the varieties they will plant in 2021. But if they’re electing to use seed-propagated varieties, there are several criteria that growers should consider in selecting genetics. Jeremy Klettke, founder, CEO and head plant breeder at Davis Farms of Oregon in Portland, outlined basic requirements growers
Hemp genetics companies have been actively pursuing patents to protect their intellectual property after years of work to develop novel genetics. But despite intellectual property protection that became available after the U.S. legalized hemp production in 2018, some companies are still opting for more expensive and more comprehensive plant utility patents for the highest level
