The Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act of 2024 (the 2025 Farm Bill) includes provisions for industrial hemp, redefining it to be Total THC and no trichome harvesting thus eliminating drug hemp, less-strict regulation of fiber/grain producers, and end of the drug-felon ban.
That it is entitled a “food security” bill bodes well for the future of human food made from hemp grain, which was hemp’s first billion-dollar category with millions of consumers, thousands of retailers, and hundreds of manufacturers.
Once passed I’m hoping that USDA/NIFA will finally start letting grants for hemp’s grain segment, drug hemp has been holding back this kind of crucial institutional support necessary for hemp to succeed in America.
- Definitions and Amendments:
The term “delta-9 THC” is replaced with “total THC,” and the definition now includes tetrahydrocannabinolic acid in THC concentration calculations.
Industrial hemp must not be used for the manufacture of cannabinoid products.
- Licensing and Testing:
Hemp producers can apply for licenses to produce “industrial hemp” or hemp for other purposes. Producers limited to industrial hemp are subject to relaxed regulatory requirements for testing, such as visual inspections and performance-based sampling.
A certified seed pilot program may certify seeds bred for low THC content in up to five states or tribal regions.
- Enforcement and Compliance:
Producers who intentionally exceed THC limits face a five-year disqualification from hemp programs.
These provisions aim to streamline the regulation of industrial hemp while maintaining controls on THC content.
The House proposal and Senate Majority proposal also would amend provisions related to hemp. Both proposals would establish a definition of industrial hemp. The House proposal would define industrial hemp as:
a. Grown for the use of the stalk of the plant, fiber produced from such a stalk, or any other non-cannabinoid derivative, mixture, preparation, or manufacture of such a stalk;
b. Grown for the use of the whole grain, oil, cake, nut, hull, or any other non-cannabinoid compound, derivative, mixture, preparation, or manufacture of the seeds of such plant;
c. That is an immature hemp plant intended for human consumption;
d. That is a plant that does not enter the stream of commerce and is intended to support hemp research at an institution of higher education…or an independent research institute; or
e. Grown for the use of a viable seed of the plant produced solely for the production or manufacture of any material described in (a) – (d).”
To go along with this new definition, the House proposal would “allow for USDA, States, and Tribes to reduce or eliminate testing requirements and background checks for producers of industrial hemp.”
The Senate Majority proposal would also define industrial hemp, but the proposal did not provide the definition.
Under current law, people who were previously convicted of a controlled substance related felony were banned from producing hemp. The Senate Majority proposal would lift this ban.
Read more at: https://nationalaglawcenter.org/farm-bill-2024-themes-in-the-proposed-commodities-forestry-and-horticulture-titles/