Demand for US-grown fiber and grain hemp is surging.

American farmers are lobbying the US to differentiate between hemp grown for cannabanoids and industrial strains grown for their fiber or seeds.

The farm bill of 2018 that legalized growing hemp and the USDA rules that followed were mostly focused around hemp strains grown for their cannabinoids, primarily CBD. Due to congress’s concerns that newly legalized crops could serve as cover for illegal cannabis grown for its intoxicating THC content, the government settled on a litmus test. Legal hemp for any purpose could not contain more than .03 percent THC.

The day may be not far off when the hemp content of Sympatico’s Tuxedo and Tank Tops is grown right here in the USA.

Meanwhile, farmers who could foresee a resurgence in hemp as fiber and grain crops found themselves having to negotiate a web of both state and federal regulations aimed at preventing marijuana crops disguised as hemp. Where it comes to strains grown for their flowers, the differences between CBD- and THC-containing cannabis plants are fairly subtle. But there’s no mistaking hemp crops grown for their fiber or seed/grain with cannabis grown for their cannabinoid-bearing flowers. Strains grown for their flowers employ female plants exclusively that produce no seed.

Hemp for seed production is planted far more densely and includes male plants that fertilize the seed-bearing females. Similarly, fiber hemp is grown in densely planted rows. These towering plants can range up to 20-feet high and more and have been bred to maximize their stalk fiber content. Now farmers who have been overwhelmed by all the prohibitions around cannabis grown for cannabinoids are pushing back. A brief video by the Hemp Grain and Fiber Exemption Campaign explains how the farm bill that legalized hemp didn’t take industrial hemp into account. The Campaign is lobbying the US government to differentiate between hemp raised for fiber and grain from its botanical cousins grown for their cannabinoids. The clip goes on to show how farmers can easily switch to hemp using the same farm implements used for other crops. You can learn more about the Hemp Grain and Fiber Exemption Campaign here. 

Industrial hemp for grown for fiber is nearly all stalk, making it easy to distinguish from its cannabinoid-rich cousins.

Reporting on the growing market for US-grown grain and fiber hemp, a late 2021 Bloomberg article says carbon caps and plastic bans are helping drive an emerging hemp industry. Prohibitions on the use of petroleum-derived products coupled with a vibrant industrial hemp agricultural base will help make hemp economically competitive in the industrial arena. The story goes on to quote fund managers and other investment gurus who see a big future for industrial hemp as distinct from its psychoactive cousins. And they’re putting their money where their mouths are with significant investments.