ADAI opens the industrial hemp business with pilot program

Published 4:35 pm Monday, January 28, 2019

Applications are now available through the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) for eligible processors, farmers and universities to take part in the state’s industrial hemp program.

“The program will allow growers in Alabama to legally grow hemp,” said ADAI Industrial Hemp Program Coordinator Christel Stewart. “This is a pilot program, so the main purpose is to allow research on how to grow hemp in Alabama.”

Stewart noted that, until now, Alabama universities have been unable to grow hemp and have therefore been able to adequately research the crop.

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The pilot program will allow universities, as well as farmers and processors, to learn what insects might attack the plants, what varieties grow best in the state and generally develop best practices for hemp cultivation in the future.

The Alabama Legislature passed the Alabama Industrial Hemp Research Act in 2016, which required the ADAI to develop a licensing and inspection program for industrial hemp production in accordance with the 2014 Farm Bill’s mandate that the crop only be grown for research and pilot projects.

“The pilot program will develop critical research data on industrial hemp production”, said ADAI Commissioner Rick Pate.  “The Department’s objective is to establish a strong research pilot program under the 2014 Farm Bill provisions, which will allow producers to consider industrial hemp as a future alternative crop.”

The Alabama program will operate under the 2014 Farm Bill and the 2016 state legislation until the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is able to establish its own guidelines and approve each state’s program applications.

According to Stewart, the USDA should have its guidelines in place by the end of the summer. After a period reserved for public comment and time to review state applications, the department will begin approving state programs.

“Most state programs are very similar,” Stewart said. “I anticipate our program will be approved.”

Stewart said interest in the program is already growing, even in Alabama’s Black Belt.

“We’ve been surprised at how much interest we’ve had,” Stewart said. “We get calls non-stop. We’ve had people from all over the state.”

For more information, visit www.agi.alabama.gov/s/industrial-hemp.