National Hemp Association

1 week ago

"UPPER MAKEFIELD, Pa. — People see the serrated leaves and the fuzzy buds from afar, but it’s the familiar smell wafting over the field that seals the deal. They pack a not-so-brilliant idea into their heads and scramble to yank the hardy plants right from the soil. Back home, they light up and sit sober in the smoke, writing off their heist as a bunch of dank weed.

Hemp resembles marijuana, its much more psychoactive cousin, in just about every way except one: It probably won’t get you high. Pennsylvanians caught stealing hemp still haven’t figured that out.

“I thought I was in pot heaven,” said one young man caught in the act on Halloween.

The hemp was lifted from Ashleigh Baldwin’s crop. Hemp was legalized for growing in the United States last year, and Baldwin cultivates 50 acres of it on a dairy farm straddling Bucks and Lehigh Counties. She uses the hemp oil to make cbdelight, a line of CBD ( cannaboidal) sodas. Medicinal marijuana, legal in 33 states including Pennsylvania, is usually grown indoors.

The Halloween theft wasn’t the first time Baldwin’s been hit.

“There’s a lot of these dumb 18-year-olds out there doing this,” she said.

Across the country, marijuana and hemp products are hurtling toward a ho-hum ubiquity, and some day, the whiff of both may be as common in Pennsylvania as cow dung and fried onions."

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People keep stealing hemp in Pennsylvania and beyond, thinking it’s weed

Industrial hemp, now legal to grow in all 50 states, is often being stolen by people who think it's marijuana.

National Hemp Association

1 week ago

"MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - During World War II Wisconsin was one of the world's leading hemp growers and manufacturers. The fiber was in high demand to make things like rope. A mill in DeForest processed thousands of pounds of local hemp into fibers for the war effort.

According to historical documents from the DeForest Historical Society, the 50-acre plant was located off of Highway 51.

"It kind of puts Deforest on the map in terms of those years and what was a very successful agricultural pursuit at that time," John Englesby with the DeForest Historical Society said.

A news article from the Wisconsin State Journal in 1944, the mill processed up to 20,000 pounds of hemp in 1943. The crop came from around 400 local farmers who were yielding around $100 an acre.

A shortage of workers during World War II meant that high school students were often employed at the hemp mill. One of them was Charlotte Lochner. She worked at the mill during the early 1940s.

"We would take it and rake it through the first process." Lochner said. "You could hardly breathe because it was so hazy."

She said she used to make around 20 cents an hour for her work which she said was "big money" during that time."

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History of Wisconsin Hemp: DeForest Hemp Mill

During World War II Wisconsin was one of the world’s leading hemp growers and manufacturers. The fiber was in high demand to make things like rope. A mill in DeForest processed thousands of pounds of local hemp into fibers for the war effort.

National Hemp Association

3 weeks ago

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released draft rules for hemp manufacturing on Tuesday and said it will soon begin accepting state regulatory plans for the newly legal crop.

The interim final rule on hemp will be formally published in the Federal Register on Thursday, with a 60-day public comment period to follow. Once the rules are finalized, USDA will begin to evaluate states’ and tribes’ submitted regulations plans, and any jurisdictions that do not send proposals will fall under the department’s general guidelines for producing the crop, which was federally legalized under the 2014 Farm Bill.

The regulations cover the requirements for where hemp can be grown, THC testing standards, the disposal process for crops that don’t meet federal standards and licensing protocols."

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USDA Releases Proposed Hemp Regulations For Public Comment | Marijuana Moment

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released draft rules for hemp manufacturing on Tuesday and said it will soon begin accepting state regulatory plans for the newly legal crop. The interim final rule on hemp will be formally published in the Federal Register on Thursday, with a 60-day public....

National Hemp Association

3 weeks ago

"The White House approved plans to regulate hemp and its derivatives on Friday, signing off on interim final rules for the crop that were submitted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

USDA has been working to develop hemp regulations since the crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill in December. A top official with the department said earlier this month that rules would be released within weeks and, since then, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has finalized its review of the proposal.

The development was first reported by Politico.

While details of the plan are yet to be seen, they’re expected to provide clarity on a wide range of hemp-specific policies such as THC potency testing guidelines and quality control standards. The rules will be released for public comment shortly.

Hemp farmers have been anticipating the regulations for months, as USDA officials have repeatedly pledged to issue them ahead of the 2020 planting season. Just last week, Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Jared Golden (D-ME) sent a letter to USDA urging the department to “expeditiously finalize the hemp rules,” per the obligations of the farm bill.

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White House Signs Off On Proposed Hemp Rules From USDA | Marijuana Moment

The White House approved plans to regulate hemp and its derivatives on Friday, signing off on interim final rules for the crop that were submitted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). USDA has been working to develop hemp regulations since the crop was federally legalized under the 2018 Far...