Pennsylvania Hemp Industry Council KNOW Hemp!

Time 2020-12-27 06:02:35

Web Name: Pennsylvania Hemp Industry Council KNOW Hemp!

WebSite: http://www.pahic.org

ID:147441

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Hemp,Pennsylvania,Industry,

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We’ve gathered experts to present you the information you need to know to get started in the industry. Topics include:CBD Cultivation Best PracticesFiber and Grain Cultivation Best PracticeSelecting GeneticsHow to Read a Certificate of AnalysisUnderstanding THC TestingCBD Extraction MethodsTaking Products to MarketAnd More!Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction iconsThe Latest on FacebookPennsylvania Hemp Industry Council 3 days ago THE ISSUEIndustrial hemp is increasingly becoming an important crop for farmers in Lancaster County and across Pennsylvania. But it’s a tightly regulated industry, because of the connections between legally grown hemp and marijuana, which is “considered an illegal drug in Pennsylvania when not grown or used in an approved medical capacity,” LNP | LancasterOnline’s Sean Sauro reported Sunday. The key for farmers is maintaining a sufficiently low level of the psychoactive substance THC in their hemp crops. But that’s no easy thing, Sauro reported.Lancaster County has a rich agricultural heritage. Farmers here and across the nation are the unheralded folks who toil to provide us with food and other needed everyday products.Their hours are long, the labor can be backbreaking and the profit margins — in a good year — are often just enough to get by.This editorial board strongly supports farmers and local farmland preservation, and so we have been encouraged in recent years by Pennsylvania’s move to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp as a cash crop. They need all the options they can get in the ever-changing agricultural commodity market.The state has been correct to move cautiously and tightly regulate aspects of industrial hemp farming, limiting licenses and staging inspections. But we believe we’re at a point when the reins can be loosened in one area.As LNP | LancasterOnline’s Sauro detailed, any industrial hemp plant “with a THC level above 0.3% is considered marijuana — a limit set within the federal Farm Bill, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, who regulate the hemp industry.”So, hemp farmers whose crops are at or below that level are fine. But if the THC level is above 0.3% — a low limit that’s easy to accidentally exceed — the penalties can be devastating, local farmers told Sauro.They are forced to destroy any crop fields that exceed the limit. And a state Department of Agriculture official must be on hand to witness the destruction.Each acre destroyed can cost a farmer as much as $5,000, Erica Stark, executive director of the Pennsylvania Hemp Industrial Council, told Sauro. Others suggested even higher per-acre losses.About 9% of lots tested across Pennsylvania in 2020 have had to be destroyed, Sauro reported.“Of the 758 lots tested this year in Pennsylvania, 66 were above the legal THC limit,” he wrote. “Seven of those lots were in Lancaster County.”This might seem like proper diligence on the state’s part, but the catch is that the regulated THC level of 0.3% appears to be arbitrary.It’s well below a level that would cause any intoxicating effects, said Stark, who is unsure how the long-standing federal figure was derived... There are reasonable reforms we support.First, the 0.3% THC limit enforced in Pennsylvania is unlikely to change unless it’s by an act of Congress. And that’s what U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, proposed earlier this month.You won’t find us agreeing with Paul on much, but his Hemp Economic Mobilization Plan Act of 2020 would change the federal definition of hemp to raise the THC limit from 0.3% to 1%.That would, according to Rand’s news release, “protect legitimate hemp farmers, processors, and transporters by requiring hemp shipments to contain a copy of the seed certificate showing the hemp was grown from 1% THC seed, and it would address current uncertainty by defining a margin of error for testing THC levels.”It would be good news for Pennsylvania farmers.Second, we agree with state Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding, who wrote a letter to the USDA that suggests raising the negligence limit from 0.5% to 2%, Sauro reported.“The 0.5% threshold is too low given that THC levels are subject to swings based on several factors, including location, weather and timing,” Redding wrote.We completely agree. The current threshold is unfairly punitive. lancasteronline.com/opinion/editorials/pennsylvanias-industrial-hemp-farmers-need-less-restrictiv... ... See MoreSee LessPennsylvania s industrial hemp farmers need less-restrictive regulations [editorial]lancasteronline.comTHE ISSUE View on Facebook ShareShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by EmailLikes: 0Shares: 0Comments: 0Comment on FacebookPennsylvania Hemp Industry Council 3 weeks ago On this week’s Industrial Hemp Podcast, we talk to Fred Strathmeyer, Deputy Secretary of Plant Industry and Consumer Protection at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture where he oversees the state’s industrial hemp program.We talk about some of the challenges that Pennsylvania farmers and the team at PDA faced this year in terms of sampling, testing, and COVID-19.He also unveils some details about the changes to the hemp program for 2021 — most notably the plant minimum and acreage requirements. The permit application process opens for mail-in applicants December 5.Applicants interested in easier application, renewal and online payment are encouraged to wait until January, when the upgraded system is expected to be available.We talk about the Pennsylvania Hemp Steering committee and how it was instrumental in shaping the program for next year. Strathmeyer also says why he thinks the USDA will change the 15-day-to-harvest requirement in the final rule. And of course we talk about this week’s Pennsylvania Hemp Summit, Dec. 8 and 9. www.lancasterfarming.com/community/podcasts_and_audio/fred-strathmeyer-unveils-the-2021-pennsylva... ... See MoreSee LessFred Strathmeyer Unveils the 2021 Pennsylvania Hemp Programwww.lancasterfarming.comOn this week’s Industrial Hemp Podcast, we talk to Fred Strathmeyer, Deputy Secretary for Plant Industry and Consumer Protection at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture where he oversees the s... View on Facebook ShareShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by EmailLikes: 0Shares: 0Comments: 0Comment on FacebookPennsylvania Hemp Industry Council 3 weeks ago The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture begins accepting mail-in applications for the program on Saturday, Dec. 5. Online applications will not open until January.In 2020, the second year of the state’s commercial growing program, following a two-year research pilot, the department issued permits for more than 500 growing sites and 60 processors statewide. Permits for the 2020 season are valid through February 2021.Applications for 2021 will be accepted through April 1. The program is operating under the requirements of the 2018 Federal Farm Bill and the USDA Interim Final Rule for hemp production. Processor permits were new in 2020 and continue in 2021. Information about permit holders will again be on the department website to inform business decisions and help connect growers and processors.New or aspiring growers are encouraged to review application instructions and information on new minimum plant limits and opportunities for written exemptions for qualified commercial projects including planting for removing soil contaminants.Each property where hemp is grown requires a separate permit. An initial permit costs $150. Permit renewals are $50. Applicants interested in easier application, renewal and online payment are encouraged to wait until January, when the upgraded system is expected to be available.“Hemp production represents a return to our heritage and a wealth of new opportunities,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “Hemp has seemingly endless uses as sustainable building materials, fabrics, paper and resins, plus scores of food products all spell out a bright future for growers and processors alike. Pennsylvania is committed to creating a commercial hemp program that works for small and large growers, new and established businesses, and urban and traditional agriculture.”www.lancasterfarming.com/farming/industrial_hemp/pennsylvania-opens-hemp-permit-applications-for-... ... See MoreSee LessPennsylvania Opens Hemp Permit Applications for 2021 Seasonwww.lancasterfarming.comThe Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture begins accepting mail-in applications for the program on Saturday, Dec. 5. Online applications will not open until January. View on Facebook ShareShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by EmailLikes: 2Shares: 0Comments: 0Comment on FacebookPennsylvania Hemp Industry Council 1 month ago Pennsylvania Ag Secretary Russell Redding is reportedly under consideration to lead USDA in President-elect Joe Biden’s administration.Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report, mentioned Redding during an online conference Nov. 19, and DTN/The Progressive Farmer, citing two unnamed lobbyists, reported that Redding had agreed to be considered.Redding, in his third term as an appointed ag secretary, would bring a track record of pragmatic success to Washington. Working with Pennsylvania’s Republican-led Legislature, he championed last year’s PA Farm Bill, which provided $23 million to a dozen new ag programs. www.lancasterfarming.com/news/farm_policy/pennsylvania-s-russell-redding-in-mix-for-u-s-ag-secret... ... See MoreSee LessPennsylvania s Russell Redding in Mix for U.S. Ag Secretarywww.lancasterfarming.comPennsylvania Ag Secretary Russell Redding is reportedly under consideration to lead USDA in President-elect Joe Biden’s administration. View on Facebook ShareShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by EmailLikes: 4Shares: 1Comments: 0Comment on FacebookPennsylvania Hemp Industry Council 1 month ago On this week’s podcast, we talk to Lt. Gov. John Fetterman about his signature issue of cannabis reform in Pennsylvania and what kind of effect legal recreational marijuana would have on the hemp industry in the state.The hemp program is not without its challenges, most notably, the arbitrary THC limits that force farmers to skirt the edge of criminality through no fault of their own, something which Fetterman describes as simple Reefer Madness, a reference to the federal government’s propaganda campaign in the 1930s that did much to turn public sentiment against the cannabis plant, which had until that time many uses in society, from fiber to rope to medicine.“Whether you're with me politically or not, we should have one thing absolutely in common and that’s the government should be out of your business on how much THC is in your hemp, and we should never be criminalizing what could be just simple, random errors in nature and the fact that you would just have to destroy a crop and waste that is, like I said, reefer madness,” Fetterman said.How would legal recreational cannabis affect the hemp industry?“I think they're going to complement each other, because, as you know, hemp has a lot of other uses too. We've legalized hemp and medical marijuana, has the world spun off its axis because of that?” he said.But there is opposition in the state House to any sort of cannabis reform. Does the opposition present a well-reasoned, fact-based argument? Fetterman says it’s just plain party politics, but he says that hemp and cannabis are bipartisan issues that can benefit Pennsylvania and could create billions of dollars in revenue.“You don't have to agree with me politically across the board, you know, what I am saying though is: be open to this idea that this is a whole brand-new industry and it could be a cash crop for Pennsylvania’s farmers in a way that, you know, would only come along once every generation or two, and why would we want to turn our backs on that?”He says Pennsylvania hemp farmers should get first option for recreational cannabis growing licenses. “Agriculture is Pennsylvania’s number one and most important industry, and any cannabis bill should be ag-centered in Pennsylvania, because Pennsylvania farmers take care of us and we need to make sure we take care of them,’ he said. ... See MoreSee LessJohn Fetterman and How Legal Weed Would Impact the Hemp Industrywww.lancasterfarming.comOn this week’s podcast, we talk to Lt. Gov. John Fetterman about his signature issue of cannabis reform in Pennsylvania and what kind of effect legal recreational marijuana would have View on Facebook ShareShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linked InShare by EmailLikes: 9Shares: 2Comments: 1Comment on Facebookthere is room for both and the real magic is in the THC part for medicine!Load moreKeep informed and join our mailing list: Log InYou are not currently logged in.Username:Password: Remember Me Lost your Password?Forums

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