Hemp Industry News

The USDA approved state hemp program plans for Georgia and South Carolina this week.

State-legal hemp businesses will be allowed to access financial relief under the multi-million dollar federal coronavirus stimulus package approved last week.

The USDA has approved Iowa’s proposed industrial hemp plan; state officials, however, have specified that the program does not legalize the CBD industry.

Kentucky lawmakers have advanced two pieces of hemp legislation: one would establish CBD label requirements and the other would legalize smokeable hemp products.

Kentucky hemp processing company Atalo Holdings has filed for bankruptcy after “a failed capital commitment, which left the company unable to pay its creditors.”

The Idaho House State Affairs Committee has blocked a bill to legalize hemp production in the state, likely killing the proposal and ending any hope for passing hemp legalization in 2020.

Lawmakers in South Dakota have reached a hemp legalization deal with Gov. Kristi Noem, who had promised to veto hemp reforms without having funds set aside for costs associated with the plan.

Bruce Linton, the renowned former CEO of Canopy Growth, has launched a new company focusing on hemp and CBD investment opportunities.

The coronavirus has now disrupted the CBD space after Expo West, the world’s largest natural products tradeshow, was canceled due to fears about a growing pandemic.

The USDA has removed a requirement for the coming growing season that all hemp crops be tested by DEA-approved labs.

Virginia lawmakers have passed a bill legalizing hemp cigarettes specifically to clear up confusion around the products’ legality.

The World Ag Expo hosted its first-ever Hemp Innovation Challenge this year — it is one of the largest agriculture-based trade shows in the world.

A recent study shows that not only do bees love the pollen from cannabis and hemp plants, but other direct benefits from the plant could help to protect their dwindling populations.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved industrial hemp programs for Washington and Wyoming, as well as the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Oklahoma, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation of Kansas, and the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska.

The Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control Board has licensed some 1,500 businesses in the state to sell CBD products under the state’s industrial hemp rules.

A proposal in Georgia would require anyone carrying or transporting hemp to be carrying proper paperwork or face potential arrest and jail time for cannabis possession.

UK officials at the Food Standards Agency say CBD products will be pulled off store shelves next year if they have not received any form of regulatory approval by then.

The USDA created a pilot hemp insurance program that covers against loss of yield for hemp grown for fiber, grain, or CBD; the agency also gave hemp farmers access to the federal Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program.

Oregon regulators have approved a rule to increase the amount of THC allowed in hemp-based concentrates, extracts, or tinctures. The move is expected to help reduce the amount of hemp and hemp products wasted due to high THC content.

GenCanna Global USA Inc., an embattled Kentucky hemp processor, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but the company will continue operations during this process.

An Idaho judge has ruled that Colorado company Big Sky Scientific must forfeit its 6,701-pound hemp shipment that was seized by Idaho State Police last year.

An Ohio man who was arrested with 91 pounds of suspected THC-rich cannabis has been acquitted of drug charges because of the state’s hemp legalization law.

Oklahoma’s Cherokee Nation has announced plans to study the potential ramifications of major cannabis and hemp policy reforms.

A bill to legalize industrial hemp is set for a hearing in the Idaho Senate Health and Welfare Committee; farmers would be able to begin growing hemp under the proposal this year if the bill is signed into law.