USDA is giving an ultimatum: Grow hemp or marijuana

Added on 24 November 2023

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USDA is giving an ultimatum: Grow hemp or marijuana

American farmers seized the opportunity to grow hemp after it was legalized in the 2018 farm bill, hoping the potentially lucrative crop could help keep their businesses afloat.

But now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is revoking hemp licenses for some farmers who have also chosen — in states where it’s legal — to grow hemp’s federally illegal cousin: marijuana.

Some farmers say the USDA’s interpretation of federal law has yanked a financial life raft from under them.

“It was definitely a huge blow to our business,” said Sam Bellavance, a cannabis farmer in Vermont who had separate licenses to grow both marijuana and hemp before USDA rescinded the latter earlier this year.

Bellavance estimates that he will lose at least $250,000 in revenue due to the license revocation.

The inconsistency between federal and state interpretations of the 2018 farm bill reflects the larger challenges hemp and marijuana farmers face in an emerging market where two nearly identical agricultural products have very different legal statuses. Even though more than half of Americans now live in a state where adults can legally possess weed — and 70 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization — under federal law it continues to be classified as a highly dangerous drug with no medical applications, the same as heroin.