Potential farmers and investors anxiously await USDA hemp regulations

The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and assigned regulation of hemp production to the states with oversight by USDA. 

USDA has stated several times that it planned to issue the regulations in late 2019, before the 2020 planting season, but as of now USDA has not yet released the regulations.

Missouri farmers and investors are anxiously awaiting USDA regulations, but in the mean time Missouri Department of Agriculture has released proposed hemp rules and made them available for public comment beginning November 1st and public comment period will remain open until December 1st. 

But the wait may soon be over as Stephen Censky, Deputy Secretary at the USDA, said on October 17, 2019 hearing before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, the interim final rule will be available for public comment “within the next couple of weeks.”

Despite continued delay in releasing federal hemp production rules, several other states have already begun submitting industrial hemp production plans to USDA.

Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wyoming have already submitted plans. Missouri and other states, including California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Texas, have stated they will wait to submit plans after USDA promulgates  and releases the federal regulations. 

States that prohibit the production of hemp: Idaho,  Mississippi, South Dakota, and the District of Columbia, are not expected to submit plans to USDA. 

The 2018 Farm Bill requires the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to approve or disapprove state plans within 60 days of receiving them.