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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Farmers should join the enthusiasm about industrial hemp’s huge potential, ranging from medicinal uses to bioplastics, chemicals, fuels, paper and bioremediation – but proceed with caution.
Negotiations on budget caps and an increase in the federal debt ceiling are going down to the wire as lawmakers seek to nail down a deal with President Donald Trump that the House can vote on this week before starting its August recess.
From the Southeast to New England, the Pacific Northwest to the mid-Atlantic, and most places in between, states are embracing hemp as a welcome alternative for growers struggling with low commodity prices.
The delay in passing and implementing the 2018 farm bill has left hemp producers and state departments of agriculture dealing with a world of uncertainty regarding everything from importing seed to providing guidance to law enforcement about how to regulate the transportation of hemp across state lines.
Farm groups welcomed news that negotiators had reached agreement on a new farm bill, but key details were being kept under wraps while lawmakers waited to learn whether the final cost estimates would force them to tweak the text.
Industrial hemp could be a big winner if the House and Senate are able to resolve their differences and pass a farm bill before the 2014 version expires Sept. 30.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he plans to introduce legislation to legalize hemp as an agricultural commodity, a familiar move that could help pave the way for more growth in his home state.
