Hemp: Coming to a Farm Near You?

February 13, 2017

DEREGULATING INDUSTRIAL HEMP

Plans to expand New York’s Industrial Hemp Agricultural Pilot Program were recently announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo at one of his State of the State addresses. The program, which commenced in 2016, was authorized pursuant to the federal government’s passage of its 2014 Farm Bill, which specifically allows universities and state departments of agriculture to grow or cultivate industrial hemp if:

“(1) the industrial hemp is grown or cultivated for purposes of research conducted under an agricultural pilot program or other agricultural or academic research; and

(2) the growing or cultivating of industrial hemp is allowed under the laws of the state in which such institution of higher education or state department of agriculture is located and such research occurs.”

The law also requires that the grow sites be certified by—and registered with—their state.

HEMP NO LONGER A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE SO LONG AS IT CONTAINS LESS THAN 0.3 THC

In 2015, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2015 that would allow American farmers to produce and cultivate industrial hemp. The bill would remove hemp from the controlled substances list as long as it contained no more than 0.3 percent THC.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, released a Statement of Principles on Industrial Hemp in the Federal Register on Aug 12, 2016, to inform the public on the applicable activities related to hemp in the 2014 Farm Bill.

Under the pilot program, New York caps the number of sites permitted to farm hemp to ten locations throughout the state. The current research projects are being conducted under the auspices of SUNY Morrisville College and Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Governor Cuomo’s proposed amendments will lift the cap and expand the program to private farmers in an effort to “position New York at the forefront of a growing agricultural sector.” In 2015, it is estimated that the industrial hemp industry generated some $573 million in sales in the U.S. alone. Governor Cuomo believes that it could soon be a billion dollar industry; and New York’s Southern Tier, because of its climate and soil, is uniquely suited to be a leader in the industry.

Only time will tell if the industrial hemp industry flourishes as hoped for by the Governor or it goes up in smoke.