Cultivating Opportunities: How the 2018 Farm Bill Transformed Hemp Production

From Prohibition to Prosperity: Farm Bill Propelled Hemp into
Agricultural Mainstream

Summary

• The 2018 Farm Bill, worth $867 billion, was approved by the US Senate and House, offering new opportunities for American farmers.
• One significant provision of the bill was the approval of hemp cultivation and processing for various purposes, including CBD oil and textiles.
• Endorsed by the President, this move created a $20 billion industry by 2022.
• However, state law had a role in shaping the legal framework for hemp agriculture, despite federal decriminalization.
• The Farm Bill brought several transformations, such as allowing states to legalize hemp farming, expanding farm subsidies to include extended family members, supporting farmer’s markets and organic farming research, and conserving the environment.

The 2018 Farm Bill, a sweeping legislation worth $867 billion, successfully made its way through the US Senate and House, promising a new dawn for American farmers. Boosting the agricultural landscape, the bill notably included a milestone provision that green-lit the cultivation and processing of hemp for various uses, such as CBD oil, textiles, and more.

Endorsed, this significant move brought a formidable $20 billion industry by 2022, opening new vistas of economic opportunity. However, it’s crucial to note that state law and regulations will still play a decisive role in shaping the precise legal framework of hemp agriculture, despite the bill’s decriminalization at the federal level.

What transformations were in store courtesy of the 2018 Farm Bill? For starters, it offered a breath of fresh air to states, allowing the legalization of hemp farming liberated from the restraints of federal prohibition. But its ambit extended further:

• It refined the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) without curbing food stamp benefits – a potential issue of contention that, if left unresolved, could have adversely impacted over a million households.
• It broadened farm subsidies to include extended family members of farmers like nieces, nephews, and first cousins, even if they didn’t have a direct farming role.
• It secured permanent support for cornerstones like farmer’s markets, organic farming research, and initiatives for veteran and minority farmers, along with various training programs.
• It sustained the Conservation Stewardship Program, ensuring ongoing environmental caretaking.

The bill brough clarity and progress specifically to the realm of hemp production by:

• Officially stripping industrial hemp of its Controlled Substances Act stigma, acknowledging its non-psychoactive nature.
• It granted states and tribal lands the latitude to regulate hemp cultivation in line with local laws.
• It enabled unimpeded transport of hemp products across state lines.
• It Gave states the autonomy to either institute and oversee or outright ban the growing of hemp.
• It restricted individuals with drug convictions from participation in the hemp industry for ten years post-conviction.

Furthermore, the 2018 Farm Bill articulated a clear definition of hemp as the Cannabis sativa L. plant, emphasizing its permissible THC content of no more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis. This detailed identification lays the foundation for regulated, straightforward hemp production.

Contrary to some beliefs, hemp farming wasn’t entirely legalized under the 2014 Farm Bill, which only permitted hemp cultivation under federal auspices for research and within states that also recognized it for those purposes. The groundbreaking 2018 iteration took this a monumental step further by fully legalizing hemp for commercial cultivation, conditional on state law approval, and ultimately erased its Controlled Substances Act classification.

Considering the current legal climate in South Carolina (SC), where hemp farming is limited to research purviews under strict conditions, the 2018 Farm Bill signaled a new chapter. Though the state had a conservative permit issue rate, there was optimistic anticipation for a broader legal embrace of hemp farming for commercial ventures, hinging on the state legislature’s consequent actions.

Those aspiring to cultivate hemp in SC under revamped regulations should proactively strategize, considering the competitive nature of permit procurement and the myriad of requirements involved.

Lastly, the fate of CBD oil under federal law turned a new leaf with the 2018 Farm Bill’s passage. Up to now, legal perceptions of CBD oil in SC have been a tangled web of contradictory statements and unenforced positions by law enforcement and media. But with the new bill, CBD products derived from hemp containing 0.3% or less THC are set to become federally legal, aligning national and state perspectives while the DEA’s prior stance was recalibrated in light of these changes.