Hemp

2 years ago, report questioned the economic viability of hemp in the US

Published

4 years ago

January 9, 2022

Laura Ramos

Photo: Esteban Lopez @ Unsplash

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Um report published in February 2020 in the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Bulletin (USDA), already showed a lack of optimism regarding the future and development of the industrial hemp sector, as reported by Cannareporter at the high. The document characterized hemp as a “special crop” and noted that “it is difficult to imagine a demand for hectares for growing industrial hemp that matches the demand for hectares for growing corn or soybeans for animal or human food.”

The 77-page analysis was published in a USDA bulletin titled “Economic Viability of Industrial Hemp in the United States: A Review of State Pilot Programs".

Hemp was already off the list of controlled substances in 2019

Although the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) said in August 2019 that hemp is not a narcotic, the sector continues to face difficulties. The agency clarified that “hemp preparations, including hemp plants and cannabidiol (CBD), below the threshold of 0,3% delta-9 THC, are not controlled substances”. Despite the DEA's announcement, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the time drafted regulations for cosmetics, dietary supplements, foods and food additives, following the 2018 Farm Bill. The US Hemp Industries Association (HIA) has advised the FDA that the existing rules for these products be simply expanded to include hemp extracts. However, like in Europe, the hemp sector in the US has not had easy regulation either, with ups and downs. The last rules for growing hemp in the US were published in January 2021.

'Successful' pilot projects

While the USDA-published report noted that pilot hemp programs created under the 2014 U.S. Farm Bill were “successful,” primarily in recovering the hemp crop as a viable agricultural crop, the report concluded that “ some challenges appeared at the time of transition of productions beyond what are pilot programs.”

“While the number of acres planted and participants in the U.S. industrial hemp industry have increased rapidly in pilot programs, and at a time when hemp cultivation is legally permitted in nearly every state, long-term trends for U.S. industrial hemp US is uncertain,” read the USDA Economic Research Service report.

The report conceded, however, that “the recent rapid growth of the alternative plant protein foods sector shows some possibility of a 'specialty' crop suddenly becoming a growth market sector”.

The challenges

In other challenges outlined in the report, the authors wrote that the long-term economic viability of industrial hemp in the United States would be affected by:

• The availability of reliable and transparent data, as well as peer-reviewed market research and information;

• Competition for the area cultivated with conventional crops and cannabis (medicinal or recreational);

• Well-established foreign competitors for hemp product markets;

• The ability to reduce production and price uncertainty through transparency and risk management.

“The coming years should see a resolution of the legal and regulatory issues that restrict hemp production in the United States and it will be imports, consumer demand, domestic production and exports that will dictate the growth and size of the market over the long term. term”, concludes the report.

You can read the full report below or download it here:

eib-217

__________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Disclaimer: Please note that this text was originally written in Portuguese and is translated into English and other languages using an automatic translator. Some words may differ from the original and typos or errors may occur in other languages.]

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do you do with €3 a month? Become one of our Patrons! If you believe that independent cannabis journalism is necessary, subscribe to one of the levels of our Patreon account and you will have access to unique gifts and exclusive content. If there are many of us, we can make a difference with little!

Laura Ramos

With a degree in Journalism from the University of Coimbra, Laura Ramos has a postgraduate degree in Photography and has been a Journalist since 1998. Winner of the Business of Cannabis Awards in the category "Journalist of the Year 2024", Laura was a correspondent for Jornal de Notícias in Rome, Italy, and Press Officer in the Office of the Minister of Education of the 21st Portuguese Government. She has an international certification in Permaculture (PDC) and created the street-art photography archive “Say What? Lisbon” @saywhatlisbon. Co-founder and Editor of CannaReporter® and coordinator of PTMC - Portugal Medical Cannabis, Laura directed the documentary “Pacientes” and was part of the steering group of the first Postgraduate Course in GxP's for Medicinal Cannabis in Portugal, in partnership with the Military Laboratory and the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon.