A Bigger Budget Is Needed To Improve The Hemp Industry
A widely recognized national hemp trade organization has extended its hand to the House of Representatives. This was done by the hemp organization asking the House for $1 billion in funding. Which was asked to be attached to the budget reconciliation legislation to support industry innovation and research on hemp.
A big majority of the hemp permit holders across the U.S are represented by The National Hemp Association. To which they put together a letter that was sent to top legislators. The letter was written and sent with a recommended revision. This amendment was intended to increase the industry as it strives to find its footing after hemp was made legal with the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill.
The money, if allocated, will allow federal officials “to empower hemp farmers, processors, and related businesses to compete globally, sequester unprecedented amounts of carbon, remediate contaminated soil and water, provide funding and jobs to traditionally disadvantaged members of the farming community, and much more,” the organization wrote to lawmakers.
Moving Into The Future Of The Hemp Industry
“History confirms that the world looks to America to lead change, be it industrial, cultural or environmental,” Geoff Whaling, chair of NHA, said in a press release. “This is more true today than ever before, as we look to combat the global climate crisis affecting humankind.”
“We know American ingenuity will drive many of these solutions and can do so with plant-based technologies,” he added. “Hemp, America’s newest commodity crop, will be at the forefront of this regenerative economic and social shift; helping create jobs, clean our soil and air, and introduce sustainable new products once only dreamed about.”
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Hemp Funding In The United States
$100 million each for four “regional super sites” of hemp production in Oregon, Michigan, New York and Florida.
-$120 million for farms qualifying as “historically underserved.”
-$380 million “divided according to hemp farm acreage calculations.” Ten percent of that would be distributed to states, tribes, and territories for “education, enforcement, and regulation of the hemp industry.” Funds would also go to grants to hemp companies of up to $3 million each to help them purchase equipment “that allows a farmer to harvest or cultivate a hemp plant, a manufacturer to extract, decort, degum, flavor, can, pack, mold, press and/or any other machinery that uses the hemp plant or any derivatives of the hemp plant to create a product or work in progress.”
“As you consider the budget reconciliation for our nation, we sincerely ask that you consider hemp,” the association and officials from other state and national hemp groups wrote in the letter to lawmakers. “Our industry is nascent but can achieve the greatness of other agricultural crops, and perhaps more still, given parallel levels of support to create infrastructure and develop markets. With adequate, specifically applied resources farmers shall possess a level playing field to move the hemp industry to the next level.”
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Final Thoughts On Hemp Funding In The USA
It has yet to be seen or indicated that the heads of the House of Representatives will agree on the proposed request. Yet the growing hemp industry is further receiving bipartisan support in Congress. Now for those who are not aware The U.S. Department of Agricultures’s final decision for hemp took effect on March 22nd.
However, the USDA is apparently still interested in accumulating information to continue to update its administrative plan for the future. For instance, the agency announced back in August that it is moving forward with an important survey. This will be meant to reach a large group of people. This will be done to achieve insight into the hemp industry.
The USDA has also proceeded to green-light state regulatory plans for hemp. Not long ago, the agency accepted a hemp plan presented by Colorado. This is where officials have repeatedly emphasized that the state plans to be a leader in the space. Nonetheless, delegates of the USDA under President Joe Biden’s administration held their first meeting with hemp industry stakeholders. This meet-up back in early 2021 was to learn about the market’s needs.
The talk “went extremely well,” National Industrial Hemp Council board chair Patrick Atagi, who was appointed by USDA and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in February to serve on a federal trade advisory committee, told Marijuana Moment at the time.
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