Kentucky was the first state in the nation to apply for USDA approval of its hemp program after President Donald Trump signed the 2018 farm bill into law Thursday afternoon. Following the signing, Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles personally delivered the state’s hemp plan to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.
The federal farm bill that Congress passed last week assigns regulatory authority of industrial hemp to the states and establishes minimum requirements that a state regulatory framework must meet to win USDA approval, according to a release. The 2018 act removes industrial hemp from the federal Controlled Substances Act and gives hemp growers access to USDA programs such as crop insurance.
Individuals and businesses must be licensed by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) to grow or process industrial hemp in the state. Officials say the KDA has received more than 1,000 applications to participate in Kentucky’s industrial hemp research program next year.
In the 2018 program, participants grew more than 6,700 acres of industrial hemp, the most in the five-year of the program and more than double the acreage grown in 2017. Last year, Kentucky licensed processors paid growers in the Commonwealth $7.5 million for harvested hemp and reported $25.6 million in capital improvements and investments and $16.7 million in gross product sales.
Commissioner Quarles also applauded Congress and President Trump for a farm bill that will maintain other federal programs that are vital to Kentucky agriculture.
