| There are no immediate changes.
The 2018 Farm Bill defines hemp as an agricultural commodity and removes it from the list of controlled substances. The bill made its way through both chambers of Congress with wide-spread, bi-partisan support, and has been signed by the President. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is beginning to write rules to administer the law.
In reviewing the bill, we know –
States need a plan to:
Track growers
Track the location of fields/greenhouses, and
Conduct pre-harvest testing to verify the THC content is 0.3% or less.
Oregon’s law already does these three things.
Changes that could affect Oregon’s Hemp program include:
Changes in interstate commerce,
Legality of extracts from hemp, and
Restrictions on growers who have felonies.
ODA will know more when the USDA has a chance to make rules and communicates any new requirements. As ODA receives more information, They will send updates.
For now, please know you still need a registration to grow industrial hemp in Oregon. You still need a handler’s registration to do initial processing of industrial hemp. The testing rules still apply. Oregon state law still applies for industrial hemp in Oregon. The 2018 Farm Bill has not changed these requirements.
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