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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.

The North Dakota Hemp Association Has Arrived!

The newly formed North Dakota Hemp Association (NDHA) is committed to helping organize, educate and advocate for local hemp stakeholders including growers, processors and distributors. They are a member-based organization whose priorities will be set by their members.

The NDHA was founded to support the economic development of the hemp industry in North Dakota (ND). According to Lauryn Lesley, the Director of Communications at the NDHA, “Farmers are facing some really big challenges with hemp cultivation and our goal is to them succeed by providing them with critical resources.” The main challenges growers face include lack of knowledge and previous experience in growing hemp, lack of research on how hemp performs in the local climate, a safe and vetted space to discuss and solve problems and a lack of network opportunities with industry veterans from across the nation. Thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill and the USDA's Interim Rule, the hemp industry has opened up new opportunities to North Dakota. However, catching up to western states is a priority.

The NDHA's approach to tackle these issues is multifaceted and includes improving communication and connection between growers, processors, distributors and retailers. Rendering a transparent and seamless operation dynamic between players in the supply chain will ensure the success of the market. Lesley said "It's difficult for farmers to know where to go with their biomass once it's harvested because maybe they haven't heard about any processors such as Prairie Products or others in the region."

The NDHA is additionally focused on providing educational opportunities regarding hemp cultivation. By connecting growers with reputable seed sellers and growing mentors, and working to impact regulatory hemp policies in light of the productions' needs, NDHA will ensure success. They have a number of current projects that demonstrate their ability to act quickly. These include:

• Starting conversations with State of North Dakota and C2Renew about raising funds to purchase a decorticator (notoriously expensive) to aid the industrial hemp sector to further process stalks to produce certain types of fiber products

• Partnering on a paper mill study with Michael Graalum who works with a number of research facilities including UND

• Establishing a network with trustworthy seed geneticists that are producing high CBD/low THC seed varieties and making this available to members

• Building relationships with local research universities (NDSU and UND) to encourage and support more hemp-based research in the region to collect relevant data that assists growers in cultivating hemp

• Submitting a public comment in response to the USDA's Final Interim Rule to help eradicate market friction and tend to their members' needs for success

If you have any questions or would like to join the movement, contact NDHA at ndha@hempnd.org or connect with them online via their website, FB, Twitter or Instagram.

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