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USDA Final Interim Rule

Understanding What Matters

USDA Interim Final Rule

According to the USDA U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program website:

"The 2018 Farm Bill (pdf) directed USDA to establish a national regulatory framework for hemp production in the United States. USDA established the U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program through an interim final rule. This rule outlines provisions for the USDA to approve plans submitted by States and Indian Tribes for the domestic production of hemp. It also establishes a Federal plan for producers in States or territories of Indian tribes that do not have their own USDA-approved plan."
Click here to read the Interim Final Rule. Comments close December 31, 2019.

We’ve been listening to and participating in conversations with the hemp industry at large regarding the USDA's final interim rule. There are two main areas of concern regarding this rule.

1. The legal THC limit remains low at 0.3% - This is an area of concern for both growers and processors, especially since the hemp biomass and crude CBD oil is not being defined, to the best of our understanding, as a "final product." Unfortunately, USDA regulators have no authority over this law. So, we anticipate that the 0.3% THC limit to be around for a while.
2. Using Hemp for animal feed remains illegal - Though using hemp as animal feed is already legal in Canada, it has not yet been approved in the US. It will probably take multiple research studies before this use for hemp is legalized in the US.

We'll be following both of the issues diligently as well as submitting our own comments on this rule.

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The Northern Hemp Summit

Making Hemp Profitable in North Dakota and Beyond

Prairie Products is thrilled to have presented at and sponsored the Northern Hemp Summit that took place in Bismarck, ND on November 19-20, 2019.

The Summit was organized by David Ripplinger, the Assistant Professor in the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics at North Dakota State University and the state’s bioenergy and bioproducts economist and brought together together agriculture, industry and government leaders as well as regional and national experts who are building the hemp industry in the Northern U.S. . This conference was incredibly informative and ripe with connections. There were a number of interesting presentations covering the history of hemp to hemp for fiber and food to hemp for CBD to retail brands. Areas represented included hemp production, processing, marketing, and regulation.
Please click here and here for more information.

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Prairie Products is FIRST Licensed Hemp Processor in North Dakota

And We’re Very Proud!

We’re thrilled to announce that on May 14th, 2019, we became the first hemp processor licensed in the state of North Dakota.

This is an exciting new field for us and we’re looking forward to helping our state diversify its offerings and services and to participating in the growth and development of the local hemp and CBD oil industry.

Rothsay's Mayor Tillman on Hemp: An Interview

Why did you host a Local Hemp Opportunities for Farming and Entrepreneurs Meeting for Rothsay Farmers?

Mayor Tillman: Our community needs more and new, local jobs. About 95% of working people that live in Rothsay, work outside of Rothsay. Because they work outside of Rothsay, businesses in other communities benefit the most. This includes gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, goods and services…all those dollars leave Rothsay. That’s not a good long-term fit for Rothsay. And it’s not just Rothsay, lots of small, rural communities are fighting this same battle.

When you consider the many different industries that hemp can bring, and the new jobs that will come along, it makes sense to start putting people together to figure out if this is an opportunity that will benefit Rothsay and other local communities. Hemp can bring new opportunities for local farming. Hemp can bring new opportunities for a hemp textile facility, hemp plastics, hempcrete, and on and on from the fiber side…and they will bring real tangible jobs into a community. The CBD oil opportunities are out there as well. I think it’s a win-win-win for a community if you have farmers planting and harvesting a hemp crop, bringing it to a local drying facility (that will bring new jobs), that will enable the farmer to sell to a local hemp fiber or oil business.

So, the Rothsay Economic Development Authority’s (EDA) goal was to bring in industry experts, share their knowledge with local growers and entrepreneurs, and give everyone a chance to ask questions to see if this is an opportunity that makes sense for them to invest into.

What were your objectives for this meeting?

Mayor Tillman: Start the conversation in our community. Give industry experts the chance to answer questions from local growers and entrepreneurs. Ultimately, it would be great if a person or a group of individuals start working together and start a new business. They could add new jobs and gain new opportunities for long-term growth in our communities.

What were the outcomes of this meeting? 

Mayor Tillman: It’s still early, but after a week I’d say the results are exceeding my expectations. I have followed up with most of the presenters from the night, and all of them have fielded new phone calls and conversations that they weren’t having before. I know some new hemp biomass has been sold because of the meeting. I know there are several growers that are now making plans to plant hemp next year, along with some who are more interested than they were before the meeting. After learning about the many fiber opportunities, there is a handful of folks looking at what might fit in this area. It’s generating interest and conversations that will hopefully lead to new growth.

Going forward do you plan on hosting similar type of events for hemp growers? 

Mayor Tillman: I think that would be great! Justin Neppl from Southern Valley Economic Development Authority (SVEDA) and I talked about it. Our meeting had several growers from the SVEDA region, so that was great. I hope this will generate enough interest that people would like to have another one, though probably in a different community. Other regions in Minnesota are creating “Hemp Committees” that consists of growers, businesses and EDAs that meet regularly to work together and build a plan that benefits their own region. I would love to see some of our smaller rural communities work together on something like that. The long-term benefits would be great.

 

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