Hemp Industry News

The USDA has released draft rules for the federal hemp industry and should soon be able to launch its review process for individual states’ hemp programs.

In a recent survey conducted by YouGov for Colorado’s Joy Organics, more than half of those polled admitted to concerns about the safety of CBD products — specifically, due to the potential for the products to contain pesticides or heavy metals.

A hemp delivery driver from Colorado was indicted in South Dakota on charges of cannabis possession and intent to distribute; the driver faces a potential prison sentence of up to 15 years if convicted.

A judge in Hanover County, Virginia has tossed a cannabis possession charge after a laboratory supervisor claimed in court that their lab could not differentiate between illegal cannabis and legal hemp CBD flower.

The United Natural Products Alliance has added its first CBD company to its ranks and released rules for accepting additional industry members.

Regulators in the UK have banned a $2.56 million ad campaign for Dead Man’s Fingers, a hemp CBD-infused rum product from Cornish Rum Company that leaned on cannabis innuendos in its marketing strategies.

A coalition of dietary supplement trade associations has called on Congress to pass consumer protection legislation for dietary supplement products containing CBD.

A recent Brightfield Group report suggests that the hemp-derived CBD market could be worth $23 billion by 2023.

The USDA is awarding funds to research the transportation of hemp pollen in the wild; the study will use mathematical models and drone technology to monitor hemp’s pollen paths.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska says it has developed a test capable of differentiating hemp from cannabis plants; the field test was validated by the sheriff’s laboratory.

The National Industrial Hemp Council and the American Farm Bureau Federation are teaming up to lobby the EPA into approving 10 submitted pesticide applications for hemp production.

A $1 million private donation to the Oregon State University’s Global Hemp Innovation Center will fund research into hemp’s industrial applications and use in consumer goods and health products.

A Kentucky hemp farm is suing an Oregon hemp seed supplier over $44 million in lost profits after the Oregon firm allegedly failed to provide feminized seeds during a cross-country, 6-million hemp seed deal.

Kentucky hemp applications are set to open in about a month; interested farmers will have until March 15, 2020, to submit applications.

A hemp farm in Whitefield, Maine has opened its doors as a pick-your-own establishment; it’s the first farm in Maine to do so and is believed to be the second publicly accessible hemp farm in the nation.

A CBD shop in Chicago is suing its landlord after being told they couldn’t display their logo, which contains a hemp leaf, on local signage because the landlords claim it would promote “marijuana usage.”

New Mexico Hemp Services has secured a $250,000 state grant to provide job training for hemp industry workers in the state.

A new Nielsen report suggests legal U.S. cannabis sales could surpass $40 billion by 2025; the sector was worth just $8 billion in 2018.

Is this new CBD-infused sportswear line from Acabada a real breakthrough in activewear apparel, or is the extraordinary hype surrounding CBD leading startups down increasingly bizarre paths?

The first U.S. patent for a specific hemp cultivar has been awarded to Charlotte’s Web Holdings, creator of the renowned CBD-rich strain of the same name.

Draft rules for the federal hemp industry have been submitted by the USDA to the White House Office of Management and Budget; the rules should be released publicly within “a matter of weeks.”

Big Sky Scientific, whose 6,700-pound shipment of industrial hemp was confiscated in January by Idaho State Police, says it will drop its lawsuit if the impounded hemp shipment is returned. It’s not known whether the hemp would still be usable.

Hemp cultivation rates in the U.S. have quadrupled since 2018, with an estimated 115,000 to 138,000 acres of hemp expected to be harvested by the year’s end.

Multiple interstate hemp shipments have been seized by Idaho police — at least one shipment has been returned but, in another incident, a trucker still faces a potential five-year prison sentence for drug trafficking.