PIERRE, SD – The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published the final rule in the federal register about Domestic Hemp Production. South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association Executive Director Katie Sieverding says they are pleased with the final rule and that the USDA extended the rule for sample collection from 15 days to 30 days.
“Some of the highlights are great for the industry and great for South Dakota. Currently the rule is that after you get a test done as a grower to make sure it is industrial hemp and under the .3% TH threshold and there is a 15 day window for when you can harvest. That is too short,” observes Sieverding. “
We have Mother Nature and a lot of other factors so they extended that to 30 days which is just huge for our growers. “
She says another good change the Ag Department made with the rule is the threshold for finding negligence going from point .5%t to 1% TH.
“That’s another good adjustment for the industry,” says Sieverding. “The definition of industrial hemp is anything below .3% TH. Anything above that, you’re in violation and it’s not considered industrial hemp anymore.” She continued, “But they were seeing some varieties right around .5%”.
A rule change to 1% still means it’s not considered industrial hemp if its .3% or higher TH and the crop will have to be destroyed. But what it also does is serve an allowance in considering negligence. That protects growers.”
Sieverding says now that the rule has been finalized at the federal level, the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association will be sponsoring a bill in the state legislature to follow the federal rule that takes the sample collection from 15 days to 30 days.
“Because of this final rule, it looks like we will be introducing some legislation specifically for that 15-day harvest window too increase it to 30 days. Hopefully, the legislature and the governor agree.”
Another allowance USDA made is that because there are not enough Drug Enforcement Administration registered laboratories to test all hemp in 2020 and 2021, non-DEA registered labs will be recognized for testing until January 1, 2022.
There is a 60-day window for application to grow hemp that started at the end of December when the rules became final. If interested in growing or processing industrial hemp, Sieverding encourages people to get the application, available on the South Dakota Department of Agriculture website or at www.sd-hemp.com
