The Specialty Crops Program conducted a three-hour webinar to solicit public comments on the sections of the 2018 USDA Farm Bill relative to multiple sections dealing with industrial hemp. More than 2,120 connected to the webinar and 46 individuals shared their perspectives and ideas on hemp production with USDA officials. USDA expresses appreciation to everyone who participated.
Watch The Webinar
Jeffrey Davis
00:00:01
Good afternoon and welcome to USDA’s Hemp webinar. Thank you for joining us. I’m Ashley Gariggus and I’ll be moderating today’s session. First, I would like to introduce Agricultural Marketing Service Administrator Bruce Summers.
00:00:14
Well, good afternoon on the east coast and good morning on the west coast. Thank you for taking the time to join our webinar today. We’re excited to be kicking this off and we’re looking forward to the robust session.
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President Trump signed the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, better known as the 2018
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Farm Bill on December 20th. In it were provisions allowing USDA to approve plans submitted by states, territories, and Indian tribes for the commercial production of hemp.
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The Farm Bill also tasked USDA to establish a program for producers located in the states or in the territories, or controlled by tribal governments, that does not have a USDA-approved plan. We’re currently formulating our plans here at USDA for how will implement these Farm Bill provisions for him.
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This webinar is an important first step in that process. We want to hear your comments. In fact, we need to hear your comments and suggestions regarding the manner in which we can best implement the provisions for hemp.
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The 2018 Farm Bill also extends the provisions of the 2014 Farm Bill allowing institutions of higher education and State departments of agriculture
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to grow or cultivate industrial hemp at certified and registered locations for 12 months after USDA establishes the plan that we’re beginning to work on now.
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It is USDA’s intention to issue regulations in the fall of 2019 and accommodate… and hopefully to accomodate the 2020 planting season.
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And here at AMS we’re looking forward to working with all of our various stakeholders to implement the 2018 Farm Bill provisions.
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But at this point, I want to take a moment and introduce you to Sonia Jimenez, who is the Deputy Administrator for our Specialty Crops
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Program Area. She will be leading the team here at AMS & USDA to implement these decisions. Sonia, do you have some opening remarks? Yes, thank you, Bruce.
00:02:10
Good afternoon, or good morning, depending where you are in the United States, or even in other countries. I understand we have a couple people outside of the United States sitting in.
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As Bruce said, we’re hear to listen to what you have to say and seek your guidance as we go through the rule making process. We take not only your
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comments today in this session, but also those that you have submitted (or will submit in writing) very seriously as we move forward in this process.
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Here I have, I want to introduce to you Dr. Patty Bennett. She is the Director of our Marketing Order & Agreements Division.She will be with her staff writing the actual regulations.
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We also want to make you aware that we do understand the importance of this crop and how much
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interest in this and growing this crop in the 2020 season. So accordingly, we want to hear from you. We’re going to get all the information we can so we can get this right.
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so we can have the rulemaking ready for the 2020 crop year. Again, thank you for participating and I look forward to hearing from you both today and in writing.
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And now I will pass it on back to Ashley Garrigus to continue the session. Thank you very much. Thank you.
00:03:33
Before we start, I would like to remind the speakers of the format which you also received by email. This webinar is formatted as a listening session to allow for comments regarding the
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2018 Farm Bill provisions for USDA to oversee plans for the commercial production of hemp. We have time for up to 60 speakers to make remarks. There will not be a question and answer period.
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I will introduce each speaker by name. Please be prepared to make your comments as soon as you hear your name.00:04:01Speakers will have three minutes each to make their remarks. When you have 30 seconds left, I will give you a reminder of your remaining time.
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We will stop you at three minutes to ensure we have time to accommodate all of today’s speakers.
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When you speak, you may also introduce yourself. However, be mindful that your three minutes does begin once you start speaking.
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For all participants, we have an email address open for comments. It is farmbill.hemp@usda.gov . You are also encouraged to enter comments using the Question & Answer box available during today’s event. In the weeks to follow, we will address those comments.
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If you have previously submitted written comments, they have been received in there entirety. All comments provided (both written and verbal) are public. This session is being recorded and will be published on the Agricultural Marketing Service website..
00:04:52
With that, let’s get started. Our first speaker is Fred Strathmeyer.
ZOOM Support00:05:00Sorry, I don’t have a Fred Strathmeyer on the list yet. If you are Fred Strathmeyer please raise your hands so we can identify your line.
Jeffrey Davis00:05:10In the meantime, we can go to the next speaker.00:05:13Angela Kennedy.
ZOOM Support00:05:19The same again. I do not have an Angela Kennedy in the attendee list at this point. Angela, if you are on the line we ask that you raise your hand to identify your line. Wwe can move on for now.
Jeffrey Davis00:05:30Okay. Ryan Quarles00:05:42I apologize again. I do not
ZOOM Support00:05:43find Ryan Quarles.00:05:47Okay. So as a quick reminder we need
Jeffrey Davis00:05:49the speakers to do a hand raise using the function on the screen that we know that you are in line for your time. We’ll keep going down the line. Samantha Brunner.
ZOOM Support00:06:05Okay, I do have Samantha, we will allow Samantha to talk
Jeffrey Davis00:06:09Okay, thank you.
ZOOM Support00:06:10Samantha, you can unmute at the bottom left hand corner, please.00:06:16And you’re free to speak.00:06:21Samantha. If you’re speaking, we cannot hear you just yet.00:06:29I’m afraid Samantha’s microphone may be muted or may not have a microphone on the computer. Samantha. I apologize, we’re not able to hear you at this time.00:06:40Would you like to move on to the next speaker.
Unknown Speaker00:06:43Yeah.
Jeffrey Davis00:06:44Brad Pfaff.00:06:46Okay, we have
ZOOM Support00:06:47Alexander Gerard mentioned they are dialed in on behalf of00:06:53Secretary Pfaff bear with me just a moment.
Jeffrey Davis00:06:57Okay.
ZOOM Support00:07:02Okay, Alexander Girard, Secretary Pfaff. You are unmuted….feel free to contribute.
Alexander Girard00:07:08Good morning. Are you able to hear me?
ZOOM Support00:07:10We hear you.
Alexander Girard00:07:11Great. My name is Sarah Walling, and unfortunately Secretary Pfaff was down at the capital this morning and00:07:18given the quick time frame of us getting up to bat here, he has not returned in time to give our comments. So, in lieu of him, I will go ahead for our state.00:07:28I oversee the division and which are hemp program resides, the Division of Agriculture Resource Management at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection.00:07:36I think the best way to describe our hemp program for the last year and a half is enthusiastic and energetic, both on the grower and participant side as well as with the agencies overseeing the program. Our00:07:522019 application period brought in 1,461 grower applications and 711 processor applications. Our average acreage for those growers is hard to predict given a multitude of factors, but we anticipate most of those growers00:08:09will be a small acreages in the one-to-five acreage range. Although we do have one participant who is planning to grow as much as 240 acres under their permit and license.00:08:22Some of the challenges we’ve encountered as we have been00:08:25moving through this program and implementing it during the 2018 growing season, and then now through this application period for the coming 2019 season,00:08:33is that our law enforcement officials in the state continue to have a number of concerns and the discrepancies and understanding the role of hemp and it’s00:08:43Schedule 1 counterpart in marijuana and the regulatory structures around that. We also have some timing issues related to our sampling of the hemp products in the field,00:08:55given our huge increase in the number of growers that we are experiencing in our program. We had only 245 grower licenses last year, and obviously that’s jumped up to over 1400, so we do anticipate some00:09:09challenges related to the sampling season. Additionally, hemp does not like our wet soils, necessarily, and in 2018 we had a lot of fields underwater, given our flooding; and so that first season was not super…..00:09:25good growing seasons for this… for this commodity. So we’re anticipating….hopeful for this season to be a bit drier.00:09:32We’re also optimistic about the future of hemp as an agricultural crop. But we’re in a “chicken and egg” process; which comes first, the processing or the production?00:09:41The interest in the second year indicates that the growers can certainly deliver if they have processing markets to feed into….00:09:47And from our state regular
Jeffrey Davis00:09:49You’re at twenty seconds…
Alexander Girard00:09:52Some suggested ways to partner would be to establish a timeframe for USDA regulations.00:09:57It’s critical that we are have our programs approved prior to the 2020 growing season. Ideally, prior to the licensing window which is in November in Wisconsin.00:10:08We also would love to see some establishment on field testing, regulatory aspects associated with who can and should be doing the sampling and testing procedures, and how that would comply with the Farm Bill and your regulations.
Jeffrey Davis00:10:22Thank you. Sarah, we’ve reached our three minutes.00:10:28We’ll go on to the next speaker, or we can start back over at the top.00:10:37Fred Strathmeyer…available?
ZOOM Support00:10:41I do have Fred now joined. Fred, we’re going to allow you to talk and Fred, you’ll be able to unmute at the bottom left hand corner, please.
Jeffrey Davis00:10:53Go ahead.00:10:54Quick reminder for Fred. If you missed the ground rules, you’ll have three minutes and I will jump in to give you a reminder, somewhere around 30 seconds.
Fred Strathmeyer00:11:02Yes, we’re good.00:11:05Fred, it may be that you have
ZOOM Support00:11:08a telephone in the room. Can you disconnect that telephone or,,,,,00:11:11take it off speaker?00:11:15OK, Fred. Go ahead, please.
Fred Strathmeyer00:11:20Can you hear us?.
Jeffrey Davis00:11:21We hear you.
ZOOM Support00:11:22Please go ahead.
Jeffrey Davis00:11:23Yeah.
Fred Strathmeyer00:11:25Are you there?
Jeffrey Davis00:11:26Yes, I can hear you.
Fred Strathmeyer00:11:29OK, I can’t hear you.00:11:36Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to participate in this listening session. I am Deputy Secretary Fred Strathmeyer with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. On behalf of Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture, Russell Redding, I offer the following comments:
Unknown Speaker00:11:41The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture submitted its state plan for hemp regulation to USDA on January 22, 2019 as required by the 2018 Farm Bill. Using authority from Pennsylvania’s law concerning Controlled Plants and Noxious Weeds the department is seeking to classify hemp as a controlled plant, which will require all growers to register and obtain a growing permit.
Fred Strathmeyer00:11:45The permit will include all information required by federal law for hemp production, while also carrying the full force of law for enforcement.00:11:51As we are limited in time, I will highlight some of the procedures Pennsylvania will use for the 2019 growing season:00:12:02Application Compliance: The permit holder is responsible for both themselves and all individuals involved with planting, maintenance, and harvesting of the hemp.00:12:11The permit holder must submit a statement listing the proper names and addresses of the persons to be involved with the cultivation of hemp.00:12:24The permit holder will also be required to submit a notarized attestation that none of the individuals working to cultivate hemp under the permit have any felony drug convictions within the last 10 years.00:12:36Information Maintenance: Participants must list street addresses with a single GPS coordinate for each farm or facility where hemp will be grown.00:12:54The permittee must maintain a detailed map showing the boundaries of the hemp planting sites outlined.
Jeffrey Davis00:13:01PDA submits location information to
Fred Strathmeyer00:13:04the Pennsylvania State Police00:13:05and will submit to USDA as required by the 2018 Farm Bill.00:13:10The method of a single GPS point per field and00:13:24the grower maintaining a detailed map of field boundaries has worked well,00:13:34as irregular shaped fields are difficult to describe with GPS points.00:13:44PDA does not recommend planting within three miles of a planting for CBD or for certified seed production,00:13:51as doing such could lead to legal challenges from existing growers.00:14:05Regarding Inspection, Sampling, Testing, and Record-keeping, PDA encourages USDA to quickly provide national standards for laboratory
Jeffrey Davis00:14:08testing procedures, including plant sampling and certification of laboratories.
Fred Strathmeyer00:14:09This is imperative for interstate commerce, as well as consumer protection and confidence in hemp products. Growers are planting in multiple states and need consistency, especially when shipping product to processing facilities that may require transport across state lines.
Jeffrey Davis00:14:22PDA’s inspection, sampling, testing, and record keeping provisions have been developed through consultation with other states.
Fred Strathmeyer00:14:24PDA will randomly sample at minimum 10 percent of planted fields each growing season. The department reserves the right to collect and test additional samples as needed.
Jeffrey Davis00:14:43Procedures for disposal are situation-dependent.
Fred Strathmeyer00:14:45PDA issues destruction orders but determines options for destruction based on the material to be destroyed.00:14:57In recent conversations with Pennsylvania growers, concerns have been expressed about lost investments if hemp plants test higher than 0.3 percent THC.00:15:05Given the relative infancy of hemp production in the U.S., seed varieties are still in development and varying growing conditions outside of the control of a grower could lead to a strain testing slightly higher than 0.3 percent THC.00:15:20True “industrial” processing facilities could process these plants for industrial uses such as building materials, clothing, and manufacturing products, while still destroying the flower material as required by law.00:15:30Pennsylvania would ask that the USDA consider these alternate destruction procedures for growers in good standing who agree to process hemp found to be higher than 0.3 percent THC for industrial purposes only. Pennsylvania strongly urges USDA to work quickly to provide critical federal guidance for consistency for growers and processors. This includes working with sister agencies to assure the provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill are realized and implemented by the DEA, FDA, DOJ, federal banking entities, crop insurance providers, and others. Does USDA plan to regulate hemp processors and will federal guidelines be provided to states?
Jeffrey Davis00:15:47Okay, thank you, Fred.00:15:49Thank you for providing me the opportunity to report on behalf of Secretary Russell Redding and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. I look forward to working with our state’s growers and processors to realize this exciting new opportunity for Pennsylvania agriculture.00:15:58Okay, great. Thank you, Fred. Can we move on to Angela Kennedy as our next speaker?
ZOOM Support00:16:11I’m sorry, we still do not have Angela Kennedy.
Jeffrey Davis00:16:15Okay, we’ll go back to Ryan Quarles.
ZOOM Support00:16:19Ryan does not appear to be with us as well. But we do have Samantha.
Jeffrey Davis00:16:23Okay, great. Samantha Brunner.
ZOOM Support00:16:27Okay, Samantha. You’ve been allowed to talk, you’ll need to unmute. And just a reminder to our speakers, you are using your computer microphone to speak so make sure you’re nice and00:16:34close to that computer microphone Samantha, go ahead please.
Samantha Brunner00:16:38Thank you. Can you hear me?00:16:39Hello. I’m submitting comments on behalf of North Dakota00:16:43Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. North Dakota has been a leader and pushing for the ability to grow industrial hemp for many years.00:16:49We are very excited with the progress made under the research pilot programs over the last few years, and with the passing of the Farm Bill to finally remove hemp from the Controlled Substances list,00:16:58and allow for commercialization of hemp.00:17:00The new legislation eliminating the gray area between hemp and marijuana, and also providing other clarification on what is legal and what is not, will greatly improve state programs and put all states on a level playing field.00:17:11As USDA moves forward, we would like to see rules that adhere to the intent of the Farm Bill. With any federal regulation, the best approach is to allow the states to work cooperatively with the federal government with minimal framework.00:17:24This is a great example of cooperative federalism and how it would allow states the freedom to tailor hemp programs00:17:31production oversight to what works best in their state and with their constituents.00:17:35We feel the true place for USDA to assist states is in matters regarding interstate commerce and international markets.00:17:41We would greatly appreciate USDA participation in matters of tracking and reporting templates for production acres.00:17:47A great system would be to utilize existing systems developed by NASS. So each state report acres and use NASS data systems to monitor what is happening in other states.00:17:57An additional matter that needs federal attention is development of the hemp database and notification system like the Food Safety Inspection Service uses00:18:04for producers that have consistent antibiotic residue found in meat products. A system like that could be used to track producers and processors that ship products above the established THC threshold.00:18:14Additionally, USDA could be extremely useful in establishing consistent protocols for states to use and destroying products that are above THC levels.00:18:23An area that could be improved is the current system for importing hemp seed into the United States.00:18:29This system currently requires a DEA import permit and will likely cause many issues with commercial growers.00:18:35We have utilized many Canadian seed varieties throughout the pilot program years and have seen no issues with high THC levels in these varieties00:18:42We would hate to see many producers resorting to less reliable but readily available seed that may not have such a proven history, just because of the import requirements.00:18:51With the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, we feel that the requirement of a DEA import permit to import seed is more restrictive than necessary.00:18:58We would recommend that the restrictions on importing hemp seed be changed now for the 2019 growing season, to allow better import of those seeds rather than waiting another season for the USDA to generate rules.
Jeffrey Davis00:19:09We suggest changing the regulations
Samantha Brunner00:19:12so that they are similar to the requirements for import of other seed requiring a USDA PPQ import permit and a phytosanitary certificate or a seed analysis certificate.00:19:21Thank you for taking time to consider our comments on the USDA hemp program and we appreciate all the work that goes into the creation of a program of this size. We look forward to working with you. Thank you.
Jeffrey Davis00:19:32Thank you for your comments. We will move on to the next speaker, which is Ernst Cebert.
ZOOM Support00:19:47I’m sorry, it appears that Ernst is on an older version of the ZOOM platform. Ernst, I’m not able to unmute your line to allow you to speak.00:19:55If you can update to the latest version of ZOOM and rejoin we can unmute your line. Just visit ZOOM.us/download to update to the latest version. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Jeffrey Davis00:20:07OK Ernst, we’ll put you back in the queue. We’ll move on to Aline DeLucia.
ZOOM Support00:20:16Aline, we’ve given you permission to speak. Go ahead and unmute at the bottom left.00:20:24I’m going to attempt to unmute Aline’s line for her.00:20:33I’m sorry I’m unable to do so. Aline DeLucia, you’ll need to unmute your line at the bottom left hand corner in order to speak.
Aline DeLucia00:20:39Can y’all hear me now?
ZOOM Support00:20:41We can. Thank you.
Aline DeLucia00:20:43Thank you so much, ya’ll….00:20:45So my name is Alina DeLucia. I’m the Director of Public Policy for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA).00:20:52And we appreciate the opportunity to comment on the implementation of the hemp provisions established by the 2018 Farm Bill.00:20:59NASDA represents the commissioners, secretaries, and directors of the State Departments of Agriculture in all 50 states and four territories.00:21:07NASDA members are regulatory partners of the USDA and the implementation of the farm bill, including the hemp program.00:21:15We’d like to start by thanking the USDA AMS team for their extraordinary outreach efforts to NASDA members and impacted stakeholders to better understand the different perspectives of this industry.00:21:27and getting knowledge of the regulatory landscape in the states.00:21:31NASDA policies support the production, processing, and commercialization of hemp and encourages researching all aspects of hemp production to finished products.00:21:40Hemp production is expected to significantly grow in the next few years due to the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill.00:21:46And there’ll be a significant shared state-federal authority over hemp cultivation and production with NASDA members splitting a critical regulatory role at the state level.00:21:56NASDA members will need guidance in a well-defined regulatory pathway from the federal agencies to exercise their regulatory authority under the 2018 Farm Bill, so NASDA encourages USDA to prioritize implementation of industrial hemp provisions00:22:11of the 2018 Farm Bill,00:22:13and to move as fast as possible so state departments of agriculture can submit their state plans and therefore provide clarity and direction to farmers and ranchers in their states.00:22:23We also urge USDA to work closely with other federal partners such as FDA and DEA to avoid potential conflicts that would negatively impact this emerging crop.00:22:35We’re hopeful that USDA will establish a regulatory pathway that provides much needed clarity to the industry as well as the state co-regulators, while also giving states the flexibility to regulate the crops as they see fit.00:22:49NASDA greatly appreciates the opportunity to comment today and it’s eager to work with USDA in the implementation of the hemp provisions of 2018 Farm Bill. Thank you so much for your time.
Jeffrey Davis00:23:00Thank you, Aline.00:23:03Our next speaker is Paul Bailey.
ZOOM Support00:23:16Okay, Paul, thank you for your patience. You are able to speak. You’ll need to unmute at the bottom left.00:23:28Okay, Paul. Go ahead, please.
Paul Bailey00:23:30My name is Paul Bailey. I’m the Director of the Plant Industries Division at the Missouri Department of Agriculture. In 2018, the00:23:35Missouri General Assembly created an industrial hemp pilot program to be administered by the Department of Agriculture.00:23:42We are currently in the rulemaking process and rules will be finalized earlier this summer.00:23:47We’re still in the developmental phase of the pilot program and will not have a 2019 growing season, but we plan to issue our first licenses later this fall.00:23:56in plenty of time for growers to make decisions for 2020. We are taking a unique approach that will require growers to self-sample each variety of industrial hemp that is planted,00:24:07and to send their samples directly to an independent testing laboratory. Registered growers must collect two composite samples.00:24:14of each variety and in accordance with the department sampling protocol. Crops must be sampled within 15 days prior to harvest,00:24:21and one of the two samples must be sent to an independent testing laboratory for THC analysis.00:24:26By definition, an independent testing laboratory cannot have any direct or indirect interest in a business related to industrial hemp or marijuana,00:24:35and the laboratory must also be ISO- accredited. Registered growers must maintain for three years copies of each certificate of analysis.00:24:44Certificates of analysis must be made available to the department for inspection. If a sample tests above the legal THC limit,00:24:51the registered grower has three days to submit a copy of the certificate of analysis for all industrial hemp that is not in compliance.00:24:59Upon receipt of the non-compliance certificate of analysis, the grower must immediately submit their duplicate composite sample for analysis to the independent testing laboratory.00:25:10The duplicate sample is… if the duplicate sample is not in compliance, the department will issue an order for destruction00:25:18for the specific industrial hemp variety testing out of compliance, and the grower must submit a destruction report to the department.00:25:26The Missouri industrial hemp pilot program will be funded entirely through fees assessed to registered growers and handlers.00:25:33Registered growers are financially responsible for all costs associated with contracting laboratory services, sample collection,00:25:40delivery of samples to the laboratory and laboratory analysis. This strategy will reduce the department’s administrative expenses associated with sampling and testing00:25:50of industrial hemp crops in the state. This strategy will result in lower fees for registered growers and handlers. We believe that growers can adequately monitor their crops and submit necessary reports to the department.00:26:03In order to remain in compliance00:26:04the Missouri Department of00:26:06Agriculture will inspect all registered growers and handlers at least once during a three year license period.00:26:12Additionally, we maintain the ability to conduct random inspections and collect our own samples for testing as the need arises.00:26:19Again, thank you for the opportunity to tell you how Missouri plans to implement our industrial hemp pilot program.00:26:26Our general assembly is currently considering legislation which will further commercialize industrial hemp.00:26:33We look forward to learning more details about what USDA will require state plans over the next few months. If you have any questions about Missouri’s industrial hemp pilot program, please feel free to reach out to us. Thank you.
Jeffrey Davis00:26:45Thank you, Paul.00:26:50Our next speaker is Kate Greenburg.
ZOOM Support00:27:01Okay Kate, you have been given permission to speak. Please unmute at the bottom left and begin.
Kate Greenberg00:27:07Great, thank you for hosting this meeting and having us on today. Colorado has been and will remain a leader in hemp production.00:27:15We’ve realized the benefits of hemp and embrace the crop as an economic driver for the state of Colorado.00:27:21It’s attracted researchers, investors and entrepreneurs who have devoted their time and resources to advance this industry.00:27:27Since the passage of the 2014 Farm Bill through 2017, Colorado accounted for more than half of the nation’s industrial hemp production. As of 2018,00:27:36Colorado’s home to 835 licensed producers, 1200 registered land areas, and over 31,000 outdoor acres and 100 indoor acres of license cultivation space.00:27:46We also launched the first certified hemp seed program in the US and hire the first industrial hemp-certified seed specialist in the country, to give growers greater confidence in the quality of their seed.00:27:58With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, a number of issues that impact American farmers and businesses remains to be addressed at the federal level.00:28:06It is imperative that we receive clear direction from the USDA as to how to proceed in order to provide certainty to the industry and create a level playing field for all states.00:28:15We need to create standardized protocols for the collection and analysis of hemp samples, disparities in sample preparation and analysis, marginalized test results00:28:23resulting in material that is non-compliant in one state becoming a marketable commodity in another, and vice versa.00:28:29In addition, we need nationally accepted transportation solutions for the safe and efficient movement of hemp and hemp products. It is critical that our agencies and law enforcement work together efficiently on this matter.00:28:39A certified seed system that addresses normal certified seed production (including THC levels) must be developed and enforced; enforcing the federal seed law is increasingly important.00:28:49It is also critical that hemp producers receive equal access to agricultural financial services, including federal grant matching funds that should be made available to increase research, development and processing.00:29:01The hemp industry will also see an increase in grain production for human and animal consumption and regulations will need to reflect that emerging industry.00:29:09FDA rulings should also recognize hemp and its derived products as safe and acceptable in the market and should work to validate label claims of CBD products.00:29:18Colorado is and will remain a leader for businesses to build the hemp economy. From university research to farm equipment, manufacturing; we are all in on hemp.00:29:27We urge USDA to move quickly on this to ensure clarity for the industry and we are excited to work with you and other federal partners as well as stakeholders across Colorado and the US00:29:37to treat hemp as any other agricultural crop and find business and consumer- friendly regulatory solutions. Thank you very much.
Jeffrey Davis00:29:45Thank you, Kate. Our next speaker is Melissa Leach.
ZOOM Support00:29:49And just for00:29:52your notice, we do have Commissioner Ryan Quarles available as well. Let’s go to Melissa and we’ll come back to Ryan.
Jeffrey Davis00:29:59Great, thank you. Thank you.
ZOOM Support00:30:04Unfortunately, I don’t appear to have a Melissa Leach joining us at this time. Shall we go back to Commissioner Quarles?
Jeffrey Davis00:30:11Yes, please. Okay.
ZOOM Support00:30:18I’m sorry for the trouble, Commissioner Quarles, it appears that you’re on an older version of the ZOOM software which will not allow us to permit you to speak at this point.00:30:27If you’d like to update and rejoin us, please feel free to. You’ll need to visit ZOOM.us/download to install the latest version of the software. Sorry for the trouble. We can move on to the next.
Jeffrey Davis00:30:40Okay, thank you everyone for your patience through the technical challenges we are having…
ZOOM Support00:30:54Okay, Courtney Moran. Go ahead, please.
Courtney Moran00:30:59Hi, I am Courtney Moran, founding principle of EARTH Law, LLC and Chief Legislative Strategist for Agricultural Hemp Solutions, LLC.00:31:07I’ve had the privilege of working pro bono with the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Ron Wyden on the drafting of the Hemp Farming Act of 2018.00:31:15The language included in the 2018 Farm Bill legalizing hemp provided me with first-hand knowledge of congressional intent. The 2018 Farm Bill provides key language supporting hemp growth as a legal agricultural commodity. Section 101.13 instructs the00:31:29USDA to administer a program allowing the growth,00:31:31cultivation, and sales of hemp and hemp derivatives. Thank you for giving the industry input the opportunity to provide input today.00:31:38We respectfully request USDA pay close attention to the following during policy development and regulation propagation.00:31:44Section 101.14 provides that nothing in the horticultural title of the 2018 Farm Bill prohibits the interstate commerce of hemp or hemp products.00:31:52It further prevents states and tribal governments for prohibiting the transportation of hemp or hemp products through the state or the territory.00:31:58However, we continue to learn of hemp crop and product seizures by law enforcement for simple transportation of the commodity.00:32:04As a result, many trucking and shipping companies are not offering hemp business owner shipping services.00:32:09While the US Postal Service has created a pathway, the industry needs USDA to develop clear guidance for the transportation of hemp to discourage states and local law enforcement from interfering with shipments of hemp00:32:20and hemp products that were legally produced in another state. Another issue that needs immediate attention is access to banking with financial institutions.00:32:28The industry requests the USDA to work in collaboration with the Department of Treasury and issuing guidance to alleviate issues regarding access to banking for legal hemp businesses.00:32:37With regard to the 2018 Farm Bill felon ban, it was Congress’s intend to restrict only the applicant from growing hemp and not for the restriction to extend to employees.00:32:47Please be sure to develop regulatory guidelines that do not extend this felony restriction beyond the applicant.00:32:52And one critical topic that many have submitted comments on, testing a Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol levels of hemp plants in the field with a reliable testing method.00:33:01The federal definition for hemp specifically refers to Delta-9 THC. The use of high performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry is recommended.00:33:10Under the 2014 Farm Bill agricultural pilot program, pre-harvest testing of the crop has been conducted using methods that specifically call for not decarboxylating the sample.00:33:20A change now to testing both decarboxylation for total THC will have significant financial negative impacts on domestic breeders favoring foreign varieties, rather than the varieties farmers across the US have bred and have grown for the past four production seasons.00:33:36The industry encourages USDA to explore options for destruction of non-compliant crops, for example, for the use of non-consumable fiber products.00:33:44Please refer to my written testimony for additional comments requesting NOP to issue guidance for full plant organic certification and are made to provide access for federal crop insurance.00:33:53USDA is now in position to put an end to the disruption of basic commerce related to the hemp industry.00:33:59We look forward to the development and implementation of regulations that treat him like other agricultural commodities and provide for a flourishing US hemp farming economy. Thank you.
Jeffrey Davis00:34:08Thank you for your comments.
Unknown Speaker00:34:12Do we have
Jeffrey Davis00:34:14any of the previous speakers available… Ryan Quarles or Melissa Leach?.00:34:27or Angela Kennedy?
ZOOM Support00:34:31I’ve given Ryan Quarles permission to speak. Go ahead. Ryan, please.
Jeffrey Davis00:34:35Thank you.
Ryan Quarles00:34:36Hello, this is Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles and I want to say that Kentucky’s glad to be at the table on this call.00:34:42I want to share with you a little bit about our hemp program and a couple challenges we see for the industry going forward.00:34:48First, I want to say we are proud to support USDA in implementing the entire 2018 Farm Bill, especially on industrial hemp.00:34:56As you know, in 2014 Kentucky became one of the first states to devise a research pilot program after the 2014 Farm Bill. Kentucky has a storied history with hemp.00:35:05In fact, Speaker of the House, and later US Senator Henry Clay grew hemp on his farm in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky.00:35:12And my great-grandfather grew up because the US Navy needed rope during World War II. Fast forwarding to 2014, we started with just 33 acres of research hemp planted in Kentucky.00:35:23When I took office in 2016, we led a complete overhaul of our program to better support KDA staff and Kentucky State Police.00:35:31When you look at the beginning of 2019, we have expanded to over 1,000 licensed growers to cultivate up to potential 50,000 acres this year.00:35:40For context, last year we approved 12,000 acres and about half of that was planted. Economic data for 2017 showed us that hemp has economic potential.00:35:49We don’t know if it can replace tobacco, but we know that it’s becoming part of our greater agricultural portfolio.00:35:55And to prove this, here are some numbers from 2017; $7.5 million dollars were paid to Kentucky growers, $16.7 million of gross domestic product sales drive our Kentucky count,00:36:06and $26 million was invested in capital improvements. These numbers show that hemp is a viable economic crop. Even with that story of success, industrial hemp has several concerns as we begin to move towards commercialization. First, it is a concern that involves with the financial sector.00:36:23Too often we hear that lending institutions are00:36:25fearful of granting a loan to a hemp-related entity for fear of liability. We should work to correct that misperception.00:36:32These farmers and companies need access to capital, just like any other farmer or agribusiness. The second concerns involvement with the FDA.00:36:40We need clear common sense guidance from the FDA (and maybe even Congress) about what the FDA plans to do about CBD and other derivatives of industrial hemp.00:36:50This is where Kentucky’s hemp program has been focused, in generating these nutraceuticals, supplements and oils. If the FDA regulates too hard against CBD, It would really harm00:37:00small Kentucky family-farm farmers. We’ve got to develop rules that allow our farmers an opportunity to continue exploring this crop00:37:09and benefiting economically from it, especially during a period of depressed farm cash receipts.00:37:14The last thing I would like to say is that we would recommend USDA develop uniform THC testing standards and background checks that are consistent on a national level. We appreciate the opportunity to participate and look forward to continuing this discussion.
Jeffrey Davis00:37:31Sir, Thank you for your comments.00:37:33Next we’re going to go back to speaker Angela Kennedy, who I now understand is back on the line.
ZOOM Support00:37:42Yes, thank you, Angela Kennedy, you are able to speak. Go ahead and unmute at the bottom left, please.
Angie Kennedy00:37:49Hi, this is Angie Kennedy. I come from the Seneca Nation of Indians.
Jeffrey Davis00:37:55And
Angie Kennedy00:37:56My question has to deal with today about clarification on how tribes and sovereign nations can participate in the 2019 planting season. We have met with the USDA and the AMS…00:38:12in an informal…00:38:15video …phone conference00:38:15about a week ago and it’s been stated
Jeffrey Davis00:38:21…their words for the 2019
Angie Kennedy00:38:23planting season the 2018 Farm Bill provides that states, tribes, and institutions of higher education can continue operating under authority of the 2014 Farm Bill. So in the 2014 Farm Bill, it does not clarify that states can00:38:43grow underneath those requirements.
Jeffrey Davis00:38:48that tribes can’t…… Excuse me.
Angie Kennedy00:38:51So that is our question…is that. I’m just trying to get the clarification because when USDA comes out with the regs, it’ll be too late for this year as far as farming season and also for 201900:39:07if we do not have our plan in place by that time.
Jeffrey Davis00:39:16OK, thank you, Angela for your comments. So as we indicated earlier, the comments will be addressed in the coming weeks. So thank you for that.
Unknown Speaker00:39:27Um,
Jeffrey Davis00:39:29You have any other comments, you want to make Angela before we move on to the next speaker?00:39:38Sorry.
Angie Kennedy00:39:39Yeah, no, just at this time.00:39:41We were just looking for clarification on…on those regulations for the 2014 Farm Bill.00:39:52So we will follow up, post this
Jeffrey Davis00:39:55webinar session on that issue with you and add that to our website as well.00:40:05Thank you.00:40:07Do we have either of the other two speakers that were in the queue on the line, Aline DeLucia or Melissa Leach, before we move on?
ZOOM Support00:40:16I’m sorry, I do not see them yet.
Jeffrey Davis00:40:17Yet. Okay, then we will move to the next speaker, which is Collin Mooney.
ZOOM Support00:40:24Collin Mooney, you have been given permission to speak.00:40:26Please unmute.
Collin Mooney00:40:29Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Collin Mooney, and I serve as Executive Director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. CVSA represents the local, state, provincial, and territorial00:40:39agencies responsible for00:40:40commercial motor vehicle enforcement. Our mission is to improve commercial Motor Vehicle Safety and uniformity throughout Canada, Mexico and the United States by providing guidance and education to enforcement, industry and policymakers.00:40:53I am participating today to raise some practical concerns with the implementation of the hemp transportation provisions outlined in the 2018 Farm Bill.00:41:01As we’ve discussed implementation of these new provisions with our members, they have raised a number of practical issues we believe this audience should be aware of. First…..00:41:10while it is a federal mandate, the requirement is currently in conflict with a number of state’s laws. States will need time to make the necessary legislative and regulatory changes and to make enforcement officials aware of those changes.00:41:23The issue is further complicated because federal regulators regarding federal regulations … regarding the interstate transportation of hemp have not yet been issued,00:41:32which means the states do not have the necessary guidance they need to move forward.00:41:36In addition, while many states will quickly make the changes, it is likely that these changes……change…00:41:43will face legal challenges in several states and until those issues are resolved those states who will maintain that transportation of hemp violates their individual state laws and is therefore illegal.00:41:54Once the legality issues are resolved, there were still be some challenges to the actual enforcement of this new program for the roadside enforcement community.00:42:03The industrial hemp plant looks like the marijuana plant and cannot be distinguished by appearance or odor. Currently available field kits only measure whether THC is present in a sample, regardless of concentration.00:42:17As a result, there is not yet a way to credibly measure the amount of THC present quickly and accurately roadside in order to verify that the hemp material being transported is below the allowed .3% THC threshold.00:42:29Furthermore, since the state drug labs that can make this distinction already have a backlog of work, this could lead to unavoidable delays and traffic stops and maybe even mistaken arrests.00:42:40Additionally, currently there is not an established process in place to verify that the hemp has been produced under a approved federal or state regulatory plan00:42:51as required by the 2018 Farm Bill. Until these issues are resolved, an enforcement official will not be able to determine if hemp being transported meets the federal guidelines and should therefore be allowed to proceed.
Jeffrey Davis00:43:03Finally,
Collin Mooney00:43:04There are serious concerns within the law enforcement community that the transportation of industrial hemp will be used to mask movements of illegal drugs including marijuana,00:43:13with higher THC concentrations, putting an additional burden on law enforcement and making it more difficult to effectively combat drug trafficking in the US.00:43:22We raise these issues to make sure that the industry is aware of the issues surrounding this new program and the challenges they could face when transporting a load of hemp in interstate commerce.00:43:32Additional guidance from the US Department of Agriculture and the Federal Drug Administration is necessary for the program can effectively and accurately be implemented. Thank you.
Jeffrey Davis00:43:42Thank you.00:43:44Our next speaker is Peter Matz
ZOOM Support00:43:54Okay, Peter, you have permission to speak, please unmute
Peter Matz00:43:59Good afternoon. Can you hear me?
Jeffrey Davis00:44:02Yes, we can hear you. Perfect.
Peter Matz00:44:04I’ll get right to it then…..00:44:07Minutes, but acted quickly commend the Department for scheduling this listening session, particularly to coincide with national day tomorrow, which seems very fitting. So I’m impressed about the schedule your next00:44:21Course. Also want to thank you for the opportunity to weigh in on this very important topic and commenting today behalf of the Marketing Institute.00:44:30We are the trade association representing the supermarket industry after my membership includes the entire spectrum of retail venues.00:44:38Single owner grocery stores and large multi store supermarket chains as well as their from the seats that are mixed retail stores.00:44:46And total number of companies operative roughly 33,000 grocery stores and 12,000 pharmacies, including nearly 5 million workers in certain customers all across the country.
Jeffrey Davis00:44:58So that a little bit of trouble hearing you clearly. Can you move closer to the microphone or maybe reduce some feedback from a speaker?.00:45:09Precisely. You’re letting
Peter Matz00:45:12Me hang up.00:45:15Closer did that. Did that help?
Jeffrey Davis00:45:18That did help a little bit.
Peter Matz00:45:22OK, I’ll slow down and meditate here.00:45:25We knew, we the supermarket industry and Food Marketing Institute…We knew you’d hear from a range of agriculture stakeholders.00:45:33and the production side of the equation and just wanted to ensure you know that our end of the supply chain is also following closely and actively engaged.00:45:41And the reason you’re so engaged is simple: there is overwhelming consumer interest in products made from hemp and hemp-derived ingredients.00:45:50From foods and beverages to supplements and topical products like creams and lotions, the demand for these products for both human and animal use00:46:01is already pretty staggering and we know that it’s growing. As a result of the growing consumer interest in this emerging market,00:46:09we are fielding more and more questions from FMI member companies all the time. In short, they’re confused about the current regulatory landscape around the sale of hemp and hemp derivatives, and I suspect we can all agree their confusion is pretty understandable.00:46:25Now FMI understands that the farm bill did not preempt city hemp laws and also that FDA still has authority over the use of hemp and hemp derivatives and FDA regulated products.00:46:39But the fact, the fact remains that our members are seeking clarity about everything from which kinds of products can be sold legally and where,00:46:48as well as the labeling requirements, all the way to how to go about sourcing and transporting the hemp and/or hemp derived ingredients.00:46:57So I can actually stop there and give everyone some time back but, in conclusion, please know that our industry would welcome the opportunity to be a resource to the department throughout this process.00:47:09And we certainly look forward to working with both USDA and FDA as things move forward. Again, thank you all very much and I hope you were able to hear me better after you let me know.
Jeffrey Davis00:47:23Yes, thank you. We were able to hear you much more clearly after. Thank you.00:47:28Our next speaker is Wendy Mosher.
ZOOM Support00:47:36Wendy, please unmute and go ahead.
Wendy Mosher00:47:39Thank you for this opportunity. Can you hear me okay?
Jeffrey Davis00:47:42Yes. OK.
Wendy Mosher00:47:43So I’m the CEO of New West Genetics. We’re pleased to address the audience regarding the unfolding of these national hemp regulations.00:47:51New West is a leader in hemp genetics. We’re located in Colorado and began our breeding program in 2014. We use modern genomics and traditional breeding to create proprietary, stable, and most importantly compliant hemp seed genetics.00:48:05New West is the home of the first US-bred, AOSCA certified hemp seed in the nation.00:48:10Our main hope for the industries that we enact regulations that adhere to typical agricultural industry practices.00:48:17Smart consistent regulation of THC levels and regulations around the validation of end-product claims.00:48:24We believe adopting Colorado’s solutions around seed genetics and AOSCA seed certification will be the best path forward. We support the mandate of certified seed use only. And we recommend consideration of a regulated breeder system akin to the regulations in Canada.00:48:42We look forward to the state departments of agriculture, as well as tribal nations, to adopt consistent regulations in all aspects of the hemp industry pipeline.00:48:50Especially in regard to THC level testing and validation, the state of Colorado has an exemplary protocol for testing THC that we hope will be adopted nationally00:49:02Furthermore, because hemp planting seed labeling has not yet been regulated, many farmers have been left with fields of seed00:49:10that have not germinated and or have failed to perform as described, resulting in significant financial loss for farmers.00:49:18In the interest of farmers and cultivators knowing what they’re buying, we look forward to the enforcement of the Federal Seed Act. Thank you for this opportunity and New West would be happy to provide any further consultation.
Jeffrey Davis00:49:31Thank you, Wendy.00:49:33Our next speaker is Roger Muse.
Roger Muse00:49:42Hi, good afternoon. Can you hear me?
Jeffrey Davis00:49:44Yes, we can hear you. Excellent.
Roger Muse00:49:48Okay, one second here. Okay. My name is Roger Muse, Vice President with the ANSI National Accreditation Board here in Washington, DC.00:49:58ANAB can assist the USDA by partnering and sharing our existing relationships and programs with many agencies that have recently developed hemp and cannabis related programs.00:50:11ANAB currently provides accreditation to the USDA to both the ISO 1702-5 accreditation for the laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland.00:50:21and the 1704-3 accreditation for the proficiency testing laboratory in Athens, Georgia. We also run several contracts on behalf of the USDA and the FSIS lab00:50:33program in the recent years for approximately 70 labs and done a myriad of different training courses.00:50:40We’re here to talk about how we might be able to work together and how we’ve helped infuse accreditation into legislation or help to develop schemes and over a dozen federal agencies.00:50:50Our view and experience center around…. is centered around conformity assessment, specifically the accreditation of testing labs, certification of00:50:58production facilities, inspection body accreditation of production facilities, and ISO standards that support these activities.00:51:06Also, ANAB was recently recognized by the FDA under the third party accreditation certification under FSMA00:51:12and at several recent technical conferences, many lines have been drawn between hemp, food, and others with respect to developing quality programs.00:51:23It is possible that we could work with the USDA to help develop a scheme that encompasses accreditation00:51:30into the USDA hemp program. We’ve accomplished this many times with over a dozen federal agencies now, and would like to have a chance to talk about how that’s been put together.00:51:41Laboratory accreditation is one of the tools in third party conformity assessment framework. We’ve learned through experience working with many state agencies and federal agencies that no testing should ever be accepted, unless the lab has been accredited to these international standards.00:51:58It’s important to understand that the accreditation for this, as we’ve learned also should fall under the ISO framework. So for ISO00:52:08by an international signatory00:52:12to do an accredidation that’s specific to an agency.00:52:17adds a lot of undue pressure (financial pressure and costs) to the companies trying to provide this work.00:52:25If the USDA does need to develop a scheme or wish to develop a scheme or program, ANAB is willing to help with this development or illustrate how accreditation fits into such a scheme.00:52:37The specificity of the scheme requirements is at the discretion of the scheme owner (in this case, the USDA). Their requirements could be applicable00:52:45to the accreditation body, testing laboratory and/or its products. The USDA can fully rely on existing accreditation requirements typically based on the international standards or tailor programs00:52:57to the needs of the specifier with developments of checklists reporting requirements and specify any personnel competence and qualification requirements.00:53:05The oversight provided by the USDA over the participants in this scheme could also vary from relying solely on oversight of participating accreditation bodies to selecting oversight tools, based on the needs of the agency.
Unknown Speaker00:53:18So,
Jeffrey Davis00:53:20We’re out of time. Thank you.00:53:23Okay.00:53:25Thank you.00:53:30Our next speaker is Jessica Wasserman.
ZOOM Support00:53:41Okay Jessica Wasserman, you’ll just need to unmute at the bottom left, please.
Jessica Wasserman00:53:47My name is Jessica Wasserman, I’m attorney at00:53:50Greenspoon Marder, speaking from the perspective00:53:52of the Pacific Northwest hemp industry.
Jeffrey Davis00:53:55Thank you to AMS for hosting this
Jessica Wasserman00:53:57meeting today.00:53:59We encourage USDA to work closely with the growers in Oregon and Washington, which have long term experience with hemp farming.00:54:07One of the key issues is the testing of hemp for being at or below .3 THC percent on a dry weight basis. Hemp is a biomass and testing results will vary according to when the hemp is tested.00:54:21USDA must set a testing date that is reasonable, so that once the product is certified on that date, certification is final without retesting.00:54:31Congress, in the 2018 Farm Bill, recognized this reality about hemp testing when it sent out that any negligent testing variation calls for an opportunity for corrective action00:54:42and shall not result in any criminal enforcement action by the federal government or any state government, tribal government or local government.00:54:51Clearly, Congress intended that minor variations are to be expected and cannot be criminally enforced. For example, Oregon tests hemp no more than 28 days prior to harvest and Washington is00:55:03leaning toward00:55:04a post-harvest testing standard based on the ground whole sample without heat applied.00:55:11Once the hub is tested and certified the product cannot be subject to retesting because otherwise the grower would be subject to a moving target approach that would lead to confusion and not be in accord with the 2018 Farm Bill and congressional intent.00:55:27Another issue of concern is the deviation in lab testing. Three different labs will yield three different results for the same product.00:55:37We note that setting a firm testing date and certification protocol will prevent the situation of Oregon biomass being inappropriately stopped when transhipped across neighboring states,00:55:48a situation in direct contravention of the plain meaning of the 2018 Farm Bill and the intent of Congress.00:55:54When issuing its regulation and reviewing state plans, we request that USDA & AMS keep in mind the business realities of hemp production and the expenses that will result from over regulation.00:56:06The goal of any regulation should be to make hemp an agricultural commodity treated similarly to any other agricultural commodity. Complicated testing and record keeping requirements will add expense and stifle what is now a promising new agricultural crop.00:56:22In general, we request that USDA play the role of moving toward a dynamic, profitable and job-creating national agricultural product,00:56:32taking into account the many uses of hemp for food, fiber and wellness products.00:56:37Under the new farm bill program, USDA has the role of approving state plans and establishing a federal plan. As such, USDA can drive national standards for this exciting new opportunity for America’s farmers. Thank you so much.
Jeffrey Davis00:56:54Thank you, Jessica. In the interest of getting one of our participants on before inclement weather hits their area, we’re going to go and skip ahead and get Erinn Beuck00:57:03You00:57:05So Erinn if you’re available we’d like to get you on for your alloted time before you have to…00:57:13depart…
ZOOM Support00:57:17Okay, we’ve located Errin Beuck.00:57:19You’ll just need to unmute to speak, bottom left.
Jeffrey Davis00:57:22Thank you.
Erinn Beuck00:57:26Hi, can you hear me?
Jeffrey Davis00:57:28Yes, we can hear you. Okay, great. Thank you.
Unknown Speaker00:57:30Very much.
Erinn Beuck00:57:32Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Also I’ll keep my comments brief.00:57:38I’m a Compliance Officer in a community bank here in Colorado, and we’re looking at banking industrial hemp. So we’re in the process of creating a risk assessment and also procedures.00:57:50So in this process it’s pretty clear to us that we have to rely entirely on information that the customer provides to us and that would be a copy of their registration and then also the combined harvests implanting report and00:58:05Any results of00:58:07the sampling testing done on their
Unknown Speaker00:58:09crop.
Erinn Beuck00:58:11It would really be ideal for the bank if there was a state information hub, kind of a resource or archive, such as the Secretary of State, where we could confirm that customer’s information and this would be especially important in situations where00:58:30the customers registration were to be suspended. I really don’t think that that information would be forthcoming, if we’re just entirely relying on the customers information.00:58:42Thank you. That is all I have, and thanks for moving me up in the line.
Jeffrey Davis00:58:49Thank you and stay safe out there. We’ll move back up to the next speaker in the queue, which was Eric Wendt.
Eric Wendt00:59:07Can you hear me?
Jeffrey Davis00:59:09Yes, we can hear you.
Eric Wendt00:59:11My name is Eric Wendt. I’m the Chief Science Officer for Green Leaf Labs. We are an accredited and licensed cannabis and hemp testing laboratory located in Portland, Oregon.00:59:20We have been working with the Department of Agriculture and performing in-field clients testing as well as finished product testing as required by the Department of Agriculture.00:59:29And we also had the opportunity to participate in the University of Kentucky Hemp PT pilot program last year which was great.00:59:37One of the biggest points of confusion that we’ve seen here in Oregon is the discrepancy between the amount of Delta 9 THC versus the total THC found in both plant material as well as finished product. The total THC calculation assumes a complete transfer of THC A into Delta 9.00:59:59THC A is what the plant produces in the field, whereas Delta 9 is generally a degradation byproduct produced in low concentrations in the plant.01:00:08One of the difficulties with this is that while the plant in the field may have low and legal levels of Delta 9,01:00:17the total amount of THC that the plants producing would be significantly greater. Upwards of 30% of the legal cannabis in Oregon would have the potential to be classified as hemp under the only Delta 9 rule as currently01:00:32incorporated. One of the main issues with that is that as storage and transport of hemp begins to occur, the degradation of THC A into Delta 9 would result in a legal product
Jeffrey Davis01:00:47leaving the state,
Eric Wendt01:00:48and by the time it arrives at a destination01:00:50it could be illegal as a result of this degradation process. And additionally,01:00:56the
Unknown Speaker01:00:56plant material is processed
Eric Wendt01:00:59in an effort to concentrate and isolate CBD, you generally also concentrate any THC present. While it’s possible to remove the THC from the finished material,01:01:10it’s an expensive process. So you likely will end up with concentrates or extract material that is significantly above the legal limit of .3%01:01:20Additionally, we’ve run into issues regarding the importance of representative sampling of hemp material.01:01:24And the variability of plants within a01:01:26field, as well as testing the finished harvested material post-harvest. Also, we’d like to emphasize the importance of standardized methodology for hemp testing.01:01:38Both equipment, the extraction sample preparation process, the procedures and the instrument calibration. A number of speakers have talked this morning about01:01:47the discrepancies from lab to lab, and I believe that implementing a universal consistent methodology to require the testing would greatly reduce that variability we’re seeing. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
Jeffrey Davis01:02:01Thank you, Eric.01:02:03Our next speaker is Paul Ulanch.
ZOOM Support01:02:18Okay, Paul will just need you to unmute at the bottom left to speak please.01:02:29Okay, I’m unable to unmute Paul. Paul, if you can unmute yourself at the bottom left, you’re able to speak now.01:02:39Doesn’t seem to be responding at the moment.
Unknown Speaker01:02:42Okay.
Jeffrey Davis01:02:43We’ll move on to Ben Fenner.01:02:51Okay, we have Ben…01:02:53I’ll allow talking….
ZOOM Support01:03:00Bear with me just a moment, please.
Ben Fenner01:03:13Hello.
Jeffrey Davis01:03:15Hello. We can hear you….01:03:18Okay, great.
Ben Fenner01:03:20This is Patty Marks.01:03:22I’ve been relegated to speak for01:03:24Ben Fenner. We represent a number of Indian tribes01:03:30throughout the United States. Fredericks, Peebles & Morgan is an old time01:03:34Indian law firm. I wanted to start out by making the point that both the President of the United States and various members of the cabinet have spoken regularly01:03:44about bringing job opportunities and economic development to areas facing high unemployment and economic challenges. Hemp has the potential of doing that for variety of Indian tribes.01:03:59I wanted to make three or four points about the USDA plan for01:04:06regulating tribal activity. First, we look at the requirements of the planet south. Land descriptions on Indian Reservations are largely01:04:19already established by the United States Department of the Interior and tribes. The Federal government issues leases rights away all kinds of other realty-related transactions using that system and reinventing that system for purposes of describing half gross sites would be costly,01:04:42possibly disruptive and unnecessary.01:04:46Additionally, law enforcement on many of the reservations I represent is federal tribal. Everyone goes to the Federal Police Academy or takes a federal police course before being certified to carry a federal badge.01:05:05So we have existing destruction procedures for the illegal grow of cannabis. Those are taught to police officers at the Academy. We don’t need to recreate that…01:05:20So what we’re really looking at here for tribes is the issue of testing. And the loss of this growing season is going to cost jobs and economic opportunities for a number of tribes who desperately need it.01:05:34We therefore like to encourage the department to issue a temporary guidance that would allow tribes in states where there has not been a pilot program to operate.01:05:47There is01:05:49experience throughout the01:05:53pilot project states01:05:55and laboratory work.01:05:57We certainly believe one of those could be adopted as a temporary guidance to get us through 2019.01:06:05We’re very much in favor of seeing standardized testing. I think everyone wants to comply with the law as written and01:06:15a temporary fix would solve a lot of problems and help out a lot of people. Additionally, we encourage the USDA to recognize that there is great differences01:06:26between tribes, between seasons. Unlike states which are regulating one geographic area, your provisions dealing with Indian tribes will run from the northwest to Florida.01:06:40And so looking at that and understanding that each tribe needs the ability to regulate in their own way, based on their own conditions, is going to be of great import.
Jeffrey Davis01:06:55Time, but I’ll give you a second for any final closing comment.
Ben Fenner01:07:01I think the final closing comment is simply that there is opportunity here that is being lost.01:07:08We have tribes that don’t have long growing seasons, so any delay in USDA promulgating a guidance or regulations is going to cost jobs and it’s going to hurt economies.
Unknown Speaker01:07:23Thank you for your comment.
Jeffrey Davis01:07:28Okay, so do we have Paul on the line? Can we go back to Paul or we’ll go next down on the list?.
ZOOM Support01:07:41Paul, we’ve given you permission to speak. You’ll just need to unmute. I think you’ve got it.
Paul Ulanch01:07:45Excellent. Can you hear me?
ZOOM Support01:07:46Thank you. Yes.
Paul Ulanch01:07:49Thank you for giving us this opportunity. So hello…01:07:52This is Paul Ulanch, Executive Director of the Crop Commercialization Program at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.01:07:59The program I lead is coordinating research that leads to increase profitability of crops in North Carolina and South Atlantic region.01:08:07The state North Carolina has many reasons to be in favor of production and processing industrial hemp. For one, the textile heritage within the state.01:08:15North Carolina State University has the #1 College of Textiles program in the nation and the state has a manufacturing sector01:08:22with the tools and the labor force to incorporate additional natural fibers, including hemp into woven and non- woven textiles products. Thought leaders within this community are already laying the groundwork to include hemp fibers into the production and processing systems.01:08:39We have an agricultural technology industry, perhaps the largest Ag Tech hub in the nation (if not the world) is in North Carolina.01:08:46It’s developing innovation to solve many problems impacting global agriculture. The Ag Tech sector in the state is poised to add value to hemp, improve its performance from genetics to processing.01:08:58A strong biotechnology industry, North Carolina’s a leading hub in the pharmaceutical and human therapeutics industry in drug development,01:09:06Clinical trials management, and bio- manufacturing. This industry is interested in identifying opportunities for cannabinoid compounds that result in improving human health and North Carolina has the infrastructure to accomplish that.01:09:20And also in specialty crop production expertise and infrastructure, North Carolina and neighboring states have farming communities that are expert at growing specialty crops,01:09:30ranging from tobacco, peanuts, sweet potatoes, cotton, fresh produce, vegetables to Christmas trees.01:09:37A relevance to hemp is tobacco growers utilize production practices, similar to what’s optimal for growing hemp. So this crop naturally fits into our foreign production systems.01:09:47However, even though hemp has historically been grown in the South Atlantic region there has been a significant loss of production knowledge and a dramatic increase in technology since from a century ago.01:09:59So therefore, the reason I wanted to provide a comment is to impress upon the USDA and other federal agencies that there are many knowledge gaps in the production of this crop.01:10:10So the rest of my comment is to request funding to support these gaps in areas such as breeding, cropping systems optimization, organic production practices,01:10:20market development for hemp products to solve problems and add value, and regulations that allow for proper yet less constrained management of the crop and the resulting products. So thank you for my allotted time.
Jeffrey Davis01:10:34Thank you, Paul.01:10:38Our next speaker is Patricia Marks.01:10:44Sorry.01:10:47The next speaker is Vadim01:10:50Federovsky.01:10:58I’m sorry, we do not have
ZOOM Support01:10:59Mr. Federovsky.
Jeffrey Davis01:11:03Okay. Do we have Ernst Cebert01:11:06On the line yet or Melissa Leach?
ZOOM Support01:11:15I’m sorry, we do not. Okay. We’ll go to
Jeffrey Davis01:11:19Nabil Rodriguez
Nabil Rodriguez01:11:27Good afternoon. My name is Nabil Rodriguez and I work for Greenspoon Marder as part of their Cannabis Law Group.01:11:34Just as a general overview, because my comment is somewhat broad as the law stands today there are three definitions for the plant cannabis: one for marijuana under the CSA01:11:47and two of which are definitions for hemp. First, being industrial hemp under the Ag Act of 2014 and the second being hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill.01:12:00Now, although the 2018 Farm Bill indicates that the industrial hemp pilot research program is to be repealed01:12:08one year after the date on which the Secretary of Agriculture establishes a plan to implement the 2018 Farm Bill, in a very broad sense how does the USDA intend to guide states in the transition from industrial hemp to hemp?01:12:27On a much more01:12:28narrower sense and kind of subsumed within my question, does USDA intend on providing guidance on how local authorities and even local law enforcement can verify if interstate shipments of hemp under the new program is hemp and not marijuana?01:12:45I think it’s worth noting that some states are already in the process of making the necessary changes in their legislation to go from industrial hemp under the pilot research program, to hemp under the01:12:572018 Farm Bill, but we really see this more in those states that we’re in the early processes of establishing pilot research programs.01:13:05Most states are currently waiting for guidance from USDA, especially in those states that have established research programs with dozens, if not hundreds of licensees.01:13:15In some, given the protections under which the industrial hemp pilot programs will inevitably be repealed,01:13:23it has become the duty of the USDA to establish a plan to help transition states from their current programs to the future plan that’s to be established,01:13:33including guidance towards interstate commerce on the different definitions and qualities of marijuana and hemp.01:13:40as well as the potential for organic certification and guidance as to what the options are for states with current licensees under the old program, such as the potential for grandfathering in those licenses.01:13:54If you have any other follow up questions, please feel free to reach out to me and thank you for your time.
Unknown Speaker01:14:01Thank you for your comments.
Jeffrey Davis01:14:04Our next speaker is John Anderes.
ZOOM Support01:14:10And we can go back to Ernst Cebert, as well01:14:14but let’s go to01:14:15John first
Jeffrey Davis01:14:17Okay, thank you.
ZOOM Support01:14:23John you’re allowed to talk, please unmute. Thank you.01:14:30John, if you are speaking, we are unable to hear you. For some reason your microphone may be muted, or perhaps you do not have a microphone.01:14:44OK, John, apologies. We’re unable to hear you. Let’s try Dr Cebert now. Um, I do have two logins for Dr.Cebert it appears. So let’s see if we can find the right one.01:15:05Okay. Dr. Cebert we have an… allowed to talk just need to unmute. Go ahead.
ECebert01:15:10All right. Thank you very much. I am01:15:16I’m using an Android, just because I was having an issue with my cell phone. I mean, with my desktop. Well, thank you very much for allowing me to participate in this program, my questions01:15:30or statement is strictly that …. in Alabama here we have three land grant universities and for the first time this year, the state is allowing the pilot program to begin and at the same time, because of the 2018 Farm Bill be allowing01:15:51farmers of….
Unknown Speaker01:15:58to actually provide….
ECebert01:16:02an application to grow or process the crop. But what’s going on is that right now this state does not have the necessary resources. So whether somebody is01:16:15growing one acre or 1,000 acres if they sent a permit requesting permit for that they still have to pay to state $1,000. That’s very restrictive, considering that there are01:16:32….any other crops that a farmer has to grow it. They don’t have to be paying such a large amount of money simply to plant a crop. The second question that I had was, in reference to….01:16:46every field must be inspected during the growing season or right before harvest. We do not have the trained personnel, the state is already saying that they do not have the trained personnel to do this type of activity. So therefore, wouldt the USDA be able to01:17:08activate or allow the state agricultural commissioner to use other USDA entities in the state, such as NRCS or01:17:18other extension services agents and to be trained by or be trained to receive some kind of training to even know what they’re supposed to do what they’re supposed to look for…01:17:31The other aspect that’s going to cost money is the THC testing and that is a cost that’s going to be put on the shoulder of the growers. Likewise, and already every grower is complaining about that particular issue. So could the USDA also01:17:47allow the01:17:50ARS laboratories01:17:52and our regional ARS laboratories, university laboratories and even AG State Department laboratories to be trained and running these tests to decrease the cost of laboratory analysis.01:18:06And also one that’s been addressed many times that 0.3% level. This is something that definitely we have to revisit because that number is simply used as a default. No one truly knows where it came. It came from the Europeans when they first began to set up their, their own01:18:30industrial hemp program. So well, a lot of people going to get penalized01:18:35unfairly with that level. Last point I’d like to make is price of seed. Even this year, we’re calling certain places and people are price gouging already, asking for $50 a pound for seed. Some kind of statement that has to come out from your authorities to prevent this type of unfair01:19:01practices so01:19:06Thank you.
Jeffrey Davis01:19:10Thank you for staying on so we could get back around to you, I appreciate that. Okay. So we have John available on the line. Go back to John.
ZOOM Support01:19:25Yes, I’ve given John permission to speak.01:19:27John, can you unmute and speak up, please.01:19:32I’m sorry, it appears John has unmuted. We can tell, but I do not hear audio so John, I’m afraid your microphone may not be functioning on the device that you’re using. If you can potentially join from another computer, or maybe even a mobile device, we can try again.
Jeffrey Davis01:19:48Okay. So we can go forward to Steve Bevan.
ZOOM Support01:20:02Okay Steve. Go ahead.
Steve Bevan01:20:03Can you hear me?
Unknown Speaker01:20:05Yes.
Steve Bevan01:20:07My name is Steve Bevan. I’m President of GenCanna Global in Winchester, Kentucky. We have been a participant in Kentucky’s hemp pilot01:20:15programs with KDA since 2014. We are an example of the success of the program. We’re now growing rapidly, have five facilities and employ 200 people in rural communities. We’re aiming to grow over 10,000 acres with our family farming partners in Kentucky in 2019.01:20:32We champion American hemp genetics and recently announced 0.0% THC patentable hemp with our partners at the University of Kentucky.01:20:40We also count family farming partners in New York, Pennsylvania, California, Tennessee and other states to come. We believe that hemp is food – treating hemp like any other proper food product01:20:52is the way to go as proper state and federal oversight already exists. For example cornflakes,01:20:58ethanol, silage for feed and Bourbon are all federally-regulated products. We need to define what is good, what does organic certification look like and when is it coming?01:21:08How do we describe good agricultural practices? Will the USDA follow emerging industry guidance, standards, certifications, provide guidelines and definitions for marketing of hemp biomass?01:21:21What about hemp byproducts from extraction procedures? These look like great sources for animal feed. We need regulatory guidance on using all of the plant and I note with01:21:32great pleasure that the commentary from FDA Commissioner Gottlieb last week recognizing the need for new constructs for hemp-derived CBD.01:21:41We need to ensure that American farmers farm hemp. That means we need access to crop insurance.01:21:48It’s great to hear that USDA and RMA are becoming engaged. We need to understand the difference between imported and domestic hemp production.01:21:56And while this seems silly to talk about on a USDA call, it’s important to understand that the US has no real legal framework for understanding of how foreign hemp or cannabis can be imported into the US.01:22:10Rural economics need to drive USDA policy. At GenCanna, we’ve increased family incomes, we’ve increased spending in rural communities, and invested well over $100 million so far and we’re accelerating.01:22:25We need more research with Ag universities. They’ve felt constrained so far. We just announced a partnership with Murray State, and we hope to build on our relationship with the University of Kentucky.01:22:35We need clarity in transportation issues. Kentucky has a great policy. Why not adopt it nationally? We need standards for compliance in hemp products.01:22:45What is hemp and what does it mean? That means we need testing requirements. We also need a path for labeled chemistry to help farmers farm a very healthy crop. In conclusion, we’re honored to01:22:57comment today. We look forward to a working relationship with regulators on the state and national level and appreciate the open communication that will lead to a simple USDA regulatory setup.
Jeffrey Davis01:23:20Thank you, Steve Bevan to make everyone aware. We’ll go ahead and go to Karen Tate as our next speaker.
Karyn Page01:23:25Good afternoon. Can you hear me?
Jeffrey Davis01:23:28Yes, we can hear you.
Karyn Page01:23:31Wonderful, thank you. I will ask a few questions regarding global market demand, regulations, and supplier readiness focusing on the sale of industrial hemp, particularly the fibers.01:23:40The answers to which will address the practical matters of selling the crop and making the industry viable.01:23:47So, the first question is where can we find data and prepared research on the global market or its demand for industrial hemp as an export01:23:54from the United States, at no or a reasonable charge? For example, the USDA produces comprehensive and high quality market research and market access information for most agriculture segments.01:24:07Can we expect the same for industrial hemp? Second question is what export regulations will be required?01:24:13For example, with the exporter be required to obtain a license from the DEA similar to requirements for exportation of beer or wine01:24:20or from the USDA? Indications on the potential licensing, certification, etc. for exportation, and which agencies will have jurisdiction is much appreciated.01:24:30Lastly, what support will be provided to producers to prepare the product for sale?01:24:34This is an industry that must be rebuilt. Will tax credits be offered, for example? Or grants to explore harvest and storage solutions and market readiness?01:24:43What programs will be made available to help our manufacturers also take advantage of this re-emerging industry? Thank you for hosting this listening session…that concludes my questions.
Jeffrey Davis01:24:55Thank you for your comments. So now we’ll take a brief five minute intermission. So it’s 1:27, so we’ll be01:25:05back at 1:32.01:30:21Hi everyone, welcome back.01:30:24Our next speaker, we’ll just get started right away, is Garrett Graff.
Garrett Graff01:30:36from Colorado and thank you for the opportunity to speak before the USDA today. My name is Garrett Graff, and I am a Senior Attorney with Hoban Law Group. Our firm is based in Denver, Colorado, a leading state01:30:47in the hemp industry, as Commissioner Greenberg noted earlier today. Our firm works extensively in representing hemp industry stakeholders around the country and increasingly around the world. USDA has announced its intent to establish regulations by late 2019,01:31:01ahead of the 2020 planting season. We urge USDA to act quickly and expediently, as states are looking to USDA for guidance01:31:08in order to create consistent state plans. Thus,
Jeffrey Davis01:31:12the states themselves
Garrett Graff01:31:13still need enough time to enact01:31:15laws and promulgate regulations after the USDA acts itself, prior to the 2020 planting season. To this end, USDA does not need to reinvent the wheel.01:31:25There are numerous existing regulatory schemes that are successful models in encouraging innovation and industry growth.01:31:32By creating a minimal federal regulatory framework (as many others have noted earlier today) and deferring in large part to existing regulatory structures (such as those in Colorado) USDA can act even more expediently.01:31:45In terms of Colorado’s model, the CDA provides for affirmative registration of hemp cultivation consistent with the farm bill.01:31:53And even more so, the Department of Health provides for affirmative regulation of processed hemp derivatives as foods, supplements, cosmetics, or otherwise.01:32:02This regulatory model provides confidence to regulators that there’s sensible regulation protecting the public for the interest at stake.01:32:11There are several critical issues USDA must address in its regulation. As many have noted earlier today, consistent sampling and testing protocols across state lines,01:32:20consistent and minimal background check protocols (as departments of agriculture do not typically or traditionally serve in this capacity),01:32:27guidance on certification of hemp genetics pursuant to AOSCA standards, guidance on hemp testing as between hemp, with and without01:32:35decarboxylation, guidance on transport of hemp and hemp materials to ensure no interference by sister agencies of USDA,01:32:43and guidance in conjunction with FDA on the processing and transport of hemp materials and manufacturer of hemp products, and encouraging states to reflect those in their state plans as well.01:32:54In sum, we look forward to reviewing draft regulations and working cooperatively with USDA to review and revise those regulations01:33:00and establish final ones. However, pending those efforts, there are several actions USDA can implement immediately that provides temporary relief until USDA is able01:33:10to put in place its final regulations. Interference with interstate transport of hemp, the USDA or the farm bill, excuse me, specifically prohibits that.01:33:19However, there are several folks who have faced arrest, as well as interference with the actual material itself. Should USDA provide instructive guidance, whether via FAQ or policy or otherwise in the interim
Jeffrey Davis01:33:34now
Garrett Graff01:33:35an objective standard by which authorities can look to in those instances? Separately. the import and
Jeffrey Davis01:33:41export01:33:42of hemp material.
Garrett Graff01:33:43The Farm Bill does not affirmatively prohibit or comment on this and thus, it’s presumably allowed. However, customs continues to interfere with both the import and export of these materials.01:33:54Should USDA provide guidance and instruction to customs to provide for an affirmative tariff code for this to be acknowledged by customs? That should help render moot the issue in the dependency of US deregulation.01:34:07And lastly, other critical services; banking, payment processing, crop insurance, financing for farmers, and seed certification.01:34:16All of these are critical services to the general and conventional farming community, and ones that the hemp industry have had to navigate01:34:24with great nuance over the past several years. Should USDA provide guidance to those operating in providing these critical services? It would be a great benefit, pending final regulation from USDA. We look forward to working with USDA throughout this process,01:34:39and01:34:39in establishing sensible regulations01:34:42that allow for this emerging industry to flourish. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
Jeffrey Davis01:34:49Thank you, Garrett. We’re going to move ahead to another speaker, a little out of order but bear with us, to Julie Doran.01:34:59So Julie, if you’re ready to speak.
Julie Doran01:35:04Can you hear me?
Jeffrey Davis01:35:06Yes, we can hear you.
Julie Doran01:35:08Okay. My name is Julie Doran on with Meigs Fertilizer. I manufacture fertilizer for cannabis. I’m in Ohio, so we don’t have legislation on hemp. I’m actually going to speak at a senate meeting01:35:19this afternoon. So I’m just going to run through this list, real quick. I started with two questions, but I’ve got quite a bit more01:35:27One issue is what do we do with the plants above the .3% THC?. Are we going to be laying out groundwork with that? I think that we should not be wasting or burning these plants. I think that we should01:35:40go up to a minimal maybe 2% THC and use it as an alternate end-use product, not for human or animal consumption, but we should still be able to use some type of that plant. My other issue is license fees and the affordability.01:36:01I don’t know if these are going to be yearly license fees or if they’re going to be good for, you know, three to five years.01:36:07I just want to make sure that everyone tries to keep it on a even playing ground through different states. Some states are charging up to $1,000 or over. Most states that I see around are charging around $250 per year. I think we should try to have a level01:36:25field with the01:36:26license fees to make it even and fair throughout the US.01:36:30The background check. I do not believe that should be required. This is unconstitutional, that this is a commodity crop now. it’s unscheduled. It’s not a controlled substance, we need to not treat it like one.01:36:43I strongly believe in the next year or two, we are going to be declassifying and taking marijuana off of the Controlled Substance list.01:36:50So we need to what is going to happen to the hemp program after that? What about this .3% THC. No one really does know where that .3% THC came from.01:37:02There really (before it was illegal in the 30’s) there wasn’t a difference between marijuana and hemp. It was all just considered cannabis.01:37:09So I don’t know where that separation came from. And that’s a very low percent to try to hold these farmers to in such a new industry. There’s so many new strains and seeds and breeding out there and we need to encourage that to try to improve the breeding program of the hemp….01:37:28hemp seeds.01:37:30So we need to be open to that and01:37:32see, you know, what we’re going to do with that.01:37:36The decarboxylation before testing…when you decarboxylate something the THC percent does move within the plant.01:37:44Other things that can stress the plant out, such as heat or water stress, any type of stress can make that THC percent fluctuate. I believe we should be just testing the dried flower post, or during, harvest.01:38:03You know, if you’re in the middle of, you know, August or something and it’s really hot and dry that THC percent could fluctuate from .2 to .5 or01:38:13even bearing over that.01:38:16So I believe we need a common place where the US and all states are testing the flower, in the same way.01:38:27With this program eventually
Jeffrey Davis01:38:29We’re about out of time, so I just want to give you a heads up for01:38:34closing remarks.
Julie Doran01:38:35Yeah, will the USDA stand up against the DEA and FDA and other associations trying to limit research production and possibilities?01:38:43The CBD plant should be registered under a program as organic if we’re going to be using it for human consumption.01:38:52On the other hand, the stock plant (the industrial hemp plant) should not have to be organic because we are using these plants to draw out toxins and chemicals from the soil.01:39:01So I think that that’s very important. We need to treat this plant as a commodity crop, as a medicinal herb, not a medical herb.. It’s not a pharmaceutical. We need to treat it as cinnamon, aloe. gender…as any other common medicinal herb.
Jeffrey Davis01:39:15Julie, I really want to stop you there. Thank you. Thank you.01:39:22OK, we’ll move on to our next speaker, Nathan Gerhardt.
ZOOM Support01:39:35Nathan, it appears that you may be on an older version of the ZOOM software. I don’t appear to be able to unmute you at this time. if you could. Oh, I have01:39:44two Nathan’s. Let me try the
Unknown Speaker01:39:45Other
ZOOM Support01:39:48Okay. Nathan, if you can unmute your line. Hopefully I’ve got
Nathan Gerhardt01:39:51That correct01:39:53Yes, I am there….
ZOOM Support01:39:54Thank you. Thank you.
Nathan Gerhardt01:39:56Ah, yes. Good morning. Thank you for allowing us to comment on this issue. My name is Nathan Gerhardt, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Charlotte’s Web. Charlotte’s Web is a market leader in whole plant hemp-derived products made from hemp grown exclusively in the United States.01:40:15Colorado is our home state. And we’re very appreciative of Colorado’s efforts indeveloping a state hemp program.
Jeffrey Davis01:40:23We look forward to continuing
Nathan Gerhardt01:40:24cultivation in Colorado for years to come.01:40:28However, as prior speakers have noted there is a disparity between sampling protocols between states
Jeffrey Davis01:40:34that needs to be addressed.
Nathan Gerhardt01:40:37We’ve been cultivating in Colorado since 2014 and have since expanded to growing in Kentucky in Oregon.01:40:46As we have expanded we’ve experienced dramatic differences in the testing protocols applied, depending on which state we cultivate in.01:40:55It is safe to say that each farmer who wants to grow hemp is either at a disadvantage or advantage in the hemp industry, depending on which state they farm in.
Jeffrey Davis01:41:15Nathan, did we lose you. Are you stil there?
ZOOM Support01:41:20The line is still unmuted.
Jeffrey Davis01:41:27Alright, we01:41:30seemed to have a lost Nathan..01:41:32but we can come back to that speaker.01:41:37We’ll go ahead and move forward to Marcus01:41:41Grignon
ZOOM Support01:41:50Okay, Marcus Grignon we’ve01:41:53allowed you to talk. You can unmute and speak, please.01:41:56Hi, can you hear me? Yes.01:42:00We are getting a bit of echo, I think you’re managing that….01:42:05if you can just turn down the speakers on that device….
Marc Grignon01:42:10Can hear me now?
ZOOM Support01:42:11Yes, go ahead, please.
Marc Grignon01:42:13Good afternoon. My name is Marcus Grignon of Hempstead Project Heart and the Rule Coalition. Today we share our recommendations on the implementation of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. Section 10.113 of Title 1001:42:29covers the process for states, tribes, and territories to develop hemp plans for cultivation. We understand the USDA projects promulgation of the rule on Section 10.113 of Title 10 sometime in 2020.01:42:42And Agricultural Marketing Service will not be accepting hemp plans from states and tribes until then.01:42:49USDA should uphold tribal sovereignty and recognize the government to government relationship by accepting submission of the hemp plans01:42:56of tribal nations immediately, so tribes can realize the economic advantages of hemp production in the 2019 growing season.01:43:03Allowing the 2014 Farm Bill to remain intact until 2020 isn’t congrues with the intent of Congress and practically puts tribes in the purview of state, resulting in the diminishment of the government to government relationship tribes have had since the founding of this country.01:43:20Section 12.608 of Miscellaneous Title should be interpreted and implemented on a stand-alone basis without regard to other sections dealing with hemp.01:43:29The major distinction is that Congress in Section 12.608 removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, thereby allowing producers to cultivate it without penalty and banks to lend the farmers and businesses engaged in its production, processing and marketing.01:43:45Since Congress did not state an expected date for this section, the Secretary should interpret this silence to mean Section 12.608 was intended to take immediate effect.01:43:56The Secretary should accelerate rulemaking with interim guidance to assure the sub-agencies do not wrongly deny benefits to hemp producers.01:44:04Currently the Farm Service Agency is not allowing farmers to count income from hemp on balance sheets, impeding their ability to access credit and prepare to seriously enter the industry.01:44:14Producers with valid licenses for cultivating hemp in states with enforced regulations should be allowed to value hemp as they do other crops.01:44:22Interim guidance specifically states that a producer may value hemp production on balance sheets for purpose of FSA direct and guaranteed applications and servicing.01:44:32Interim guidance should further assure producers the valid licenses are not restricted from participating in other USDA programs, such as commodity conservation and rural development programs.01:44:42The Secretary should inform other departments of USDA’s interim regulations and urge them to immediately lift lending restrictions on banking institutions with respect to hemp production. Section 7.605 Title 7 requires the Secretary to conduct a
Jeffrey Davis01:44:58study within 12 months on the economic bulk
Marc Grignon01:45:00viability of the domestic production and sale of hemp. We request the Secretary to clarify which USDA department is tasked with research and producing this report to Congress by December, 2019.01:45:12We recommend that in this study, the Secretary highlight research on potential benefits of raising the THC threshold01:45:18from .3% to 1%, a level more suitable for fiber products and consider a 5% THC threshold for hemp extractors. We appreciate the Agriculture Marketing Service consideration of requests and recommendations. Thank you.
Jeffrey Davis01:45:34Thank you, Marcus. Is Nathan, were we able to reconnect with01:45:37Nathan back on the line to finish his remarks?01:45:47Okay, so in that case, we’ll go back to one of our previous speakers is now available, Melissa Leach.
ZOOM Support01:46:01Okay, Melissa, you’ll need to unmute at the bottom left to speak.
Jeffrey Davis01:46:06….
Melissa Leach01:46:07OK, got it. Thank you. I’m speaking on behalf of Representative Willie Dove of Bonner in Springs of Kansas and thank you very much for holding the listening session.01:46:16Representative Dove has expressed concern regarding what may be a drawn out timeframe for reviewing state-specific commercial hemp plans.01:46:24In his testimony before Congress, Secretary Perdue appeared to say that the USDA industrial hemp rules and regs from the 201801:46:31Farm Bill would be finalized by 2020. Here are the questions. Please clarify: does Secretary Perdue mean by the end of 2019, so that USDA will begin reviewing state commercial growing plants at the beginning of 2020?01:46:46Excuse me. And second, how long with the review process take? For example, if Kansas submits it’s plan at the end of 2019,01:46:55will it be reviewed and hopefully approved in time for planting in March or April?01:47:01The third question I had was a discussion of the disposition of an industrial hemp crop that has exceeded the legal limit of .3% .01:47:12If a crop were to exceed that limit before or at harvest, rather than destroy the crop, burn it as it stands or01:47:19will it be acceptable/permissible to convert it to bio-char either on site or at a processing plant that is equipped to do so? An underlying question that has been heard from the Kansas AG Committee Chair is would pyrolysis, which is the common bio-char conversion process,01:47:39eliminate the THC in a hot crop so that it becomes a viable marketable product sufficiently free from law enforcement concerns.01:47:48And then, rather than be too technologically specific (that is, pyrolysis necessarily) could bio-char from a hot crop be an approved marketable product utilizing a process that might be
Jeffrey Davis01:48:06Oh, Melissa..01:48:08You’ve cut out, if you can still hear us.
ZOOM Support01:48:17Unfortunately,01:48:18Melissa appears to be unmuted. But we’ve lost audio. Okay.
Unknown Speaker01:48:22So to the extent that Melissa can hear us
Jeffrey Davis01:48:24or other folks that may be joining late in my opening remarks, I did state that USDA’s goal is to issue regulations in the fall of 2019 to be in place for the 2020 crop year. That is01:48:37our goal. And with respect to USDA’s plans to approve or disapprove plans, the statute requires that is to be done within 60 days, expecting USDA and AMS will comply with that requirement.01:48:49Once internal rules and01:48:51regulations have been issued.01:48:58OK, we will go to our next speaker, which is Garrett Chojnacki.
ZOOM Support01:49:08Okay, Garrett you have been given permission….
Garrett Chojnacki01:49:10I think I’m unmuted. Can you guys hear me?
ZOOM Support01:49:12Go ahead. Yes.
Garrett Chojnacki01:49:13Awesome. Good afternoon. So my name is Garrett Chojnacki, a hemp advisor in California. I’m also a hemp production formulater, so I formulate products that help hemp products get to market.01:49:27So I represent 40 California farmers and a few people in the state of Oregon as well. And I would say that my genuine concern…
Jeffrey Davis01:49:50Garrett, are you still on the line with us? We’ve had multiple people say they are impacted by the storm coming through the Midwest…01:49:55Two had to cancel because they’re now closed. So we’re hearing that we’re having connectivity issues01:49:58because the middle of a storm that’s going through right now but Garrett, are you on the line?
ZOOM Support01:50:08I’m sorry. Same with Garrett, he appears to be unmuted. But we’ve lost audio.
Jeffrey Davis01:50:12Okay. Um, so we will make a note to come back to Garrett…01:50:17Can you guys hear me. Yes, we can hear you, is that Garrett? That is me. Okay, great. You can continue. I’m sorry, guys. Okay.
Garrett Chojnacki01:50:26So today my hope is to encourage the USDA to look into difficulties that a farmer might face if he or she is in a southern portion of the United States. So what we know about Type 3 phenotypes (which is the hemp variety),01:50:42we know that the specific phenotype prefers a geographical position north of latitude 30. However, the closer we move to 30 degrees of latitude position, we actually have difficulty keeping the plant suppressed under .3% of THC.01:51:01So my concern is how is the USDA going to01:51:06administer their guidelines for farmers in the testing protocols? So my major concern is01:51:17are we just testing flower or are we going to also include the rest of the biomass?01:51:24I believe01:51:27if we include stock, stem, sticks01:51:32that would be a more beneficial and better sample of our test. If we are going to concentrate by just using flower or just using tissue vegetation,01:51:46I believe that we’re actually concentrating that test sample. So currently, I work with a team of biochemists and we’ve discovered a root drench that actually suppresses THC production within the plant. Not
Jeffrey Davis01:51:59all farmers have access to
Garrett Chojnacki01:52:00formulations like these, yet this brings some concern for the majority of the population that desires to grow hemp as a cash crop. So today, I ask the USDA that they continue their path of due diligence for the farmer’s sake and for the economic benefit of our country.01:52:22The USDA and any other agency that they would like to look into this01:52:27in a more in-depth position at suppressing THC in the plant, I would be honored to elaborate and can be reached on my website spenceragconsulting com .
Jeffrey Davis01:52:40Thank you, Garrett.01:52:42Thank you. We’ll move on to the next speaker. So, Bill Cyr.
William Cyr01:52:56Can you hear me?
Jeffrey Davis01:52:57Yes, we can hear you. Well, thank you.
William Cyr01:52:59I thank you for hosting this event.01:53:03Very important for the industry. So rather than give up a macro written testimony, what I wanted to submit is very micro oriented testimony.01:53:16regarding01:53:18the issue of biomass being confiscated, impounded at the state level and even in the state of Oregon where my business is in Salem, Unique Food Works. I’ve spoken with01:53:34legal work in cities, law enforcement, their lead person they have troubles problems even in state, how do you identify hemp versus marijuana; smells the same, looks the same. Is it the same? So this is written to help alleviate and01:53:49to distinguish hemp, biomass for extraction, for interstate commerce, in international business. So01:53:57this is written assuming .3% THC and a dry weight basis will remain intact.
Jeffrey Davis01:54:03And I still don’t understand how that applies
William Cyr01:54:05to a package product and a cookie doesn’t equate. So, but moving on I’m asking for emergency temporary rulemaking. I’ve been involved rulemaking with Oregon Liquor Control Commission going back to 2015, with ODA01:54:22I started the hemp-related business in Oregon in 2016…very integrated in the industry. My background, I retired in 2008 as a food ingredient manufacturing, food product manufacturing. I’ve had my own business. We’ve created01:54:39robust programs for CGMP’s, facility SOPs, etc. So my testimony I’d talk on…01:54:50I will stop. This testimony is a method and procedure for the preparation of THC compliant hemp biomass for extraction for interstate commerce and international commerce. International commerce, of course, we have to carry phyto….01:55:05certification that may be a key for us to…. a departure from the grower to extraction or handlers as they are here or food product makers using CBD. So interstate shipment of biomass for extraction. it’s my belief…my feeling that the growers responsible to grow harvests dry bulk path.01:55:27and be fairly compliant to the .3% or dry weight basis. That’s an agricultural effort not saying it’s easy but however you depart from the grower to move on to further processing extraction and packaged products. So moving on from there. I’m recommending that total THC test01:55:49(not Delta 9) so well and that can be done quite easily. So
Jeffrey Davis01:55:58a solution is
William Cyr01:56:01watching homogenization of the biomass into a homogenous blend, whole plant partial plant material post homogenization testing for compliance.01:56:11The optional last step is do further process of my material into pellets to standardize it as a secondary method of getting that biomass into the market.
Jeffrey Davis01:56:25Bill, we’re at the end of your01:56:27time if you would like to make one, final closing remark.
William Cyr01:56:31So,01:56:32This01:56:32homogenization process involves01:56:36testing, it involves packaging, involves sequential sealing in numbering of sacks after post testing, and01:56:49at the lab level. So you have pre-harvest test, post-harvest test, walk down the load, sequentially numbered seals, products shipped. So they have submitted the whole program.
Jeffrey Davis01:57:02Thank you, Bill. I’ll have to stop you there. So we can move on to the next speaker.01:57:07And we’re going to go back to01:57:09John Anderes.01:57:16So John, we’ll see if we can go back to give you some time.
ZOOM Support01:57:22John we’ve given permission to speak.01:57:25You’ll need to unmute at the bottom left. Let’s see if we can hear you.01:57:33Okay, you are currently01:57:34unmuted….and we hear you, go ahead John.
John Anderes01:57:37Oh, that’s great. Well, first off, I’d like to thank the USDA for hosting this forum.01:57:45My focus is pretty01:57:47narrow01:57:48and01:57:49the concerns I have and questions are centered around CBD.01:57:53In fact, just this morning I received an email blast from a prominent hemp full spectrum CBD oil retailer wholesaler.01:58:05And they made many claims. But the two notable ones….one was that I wasn’t aware of (if it’s true at all) is in 2003 the US government is holding patents on all cannabinol and cannabinoids, which I find probably not true, although I do know that01:58:27there were patents or a patent just recently, last year for seizure abatements.01:58:35They also boldly state that their products are legal being CBD oil in all fifty states, being that they have full spectrum oil, which is derived from hemp which contains less than .3% THC.01:58:52These claims from the internet purveyors and retailers have caused much confusion out in the marketplace on the sale of CBD. While to me it seems like the FDA has categorize the CBD as a drug, and as I understand their language it is illegal to sell CBD or use them as food additives.01:59:15We are in need for a clear path forward in regards to CBD and what is legal and what is not. I feel the genie is already out of the bottle. And if the FDA delays their guidance, consumers will get CBD one way or another.01:59:33I work for an organic fertilizer company who works with many hemp farmers and I’m on the Minnesota Farmers Market Association Board, who serves01:59:44hundreds of farmers markets and who, in turn, work with thousands of farmers and I have been deluged with questions from both the hemp growers and the market managers about the sale of CBD.01:59:57If the road forward isn’t clear I’m afraid the temptation to sell CBD under the table could be high, and that could jeopardize managers of those farmers markets and vendors02:00:11at risk to law enforcement, not to mention the consumers.02:00:16I would also suggest that if the rules either favor Big Pharma or are overly complicated..
Jeffrey Davis02:00:22You have about twenty seconds left to say what you have left.
John Anderes02:00:26It may be the same to have the same
Jeffrey Davis02:00:28effect is being illegal.
John Anderes02:00:30The growing and selling of hemp and products derived from hemp could be an economic boon for the already economically struck sector of our population, the small farmer.02:00:41The worst thing that could be done, would be to stall going forward or have the rules so tight that CBD creates a whole new sector of potential02:00:50law breakers. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Jeffrey Davis02:00:54Thank you, John.02:00:57Do we have, before we move on, are we able to go back to Melissa or Nathan? Melissa had about a minute left. Nathan had just under two minutes left.
ZOOM Support02:01:12Was that Melissa Leach?02:01:15Yeah, Melissa Leach does not appear to be on this session any longer.
Jeffrey Davis02:01:19Okay.02:01:20Let me search again and we
ZOOM Support02:01:22did hear that Nathan
Jeffrey Davis02:01:24Nathan rejoined us. Okay.
Nathan Gerhardt02:01:30Yes, this is Nathan Gehardt again.
Jeffrey Davis02:01:34OK, you can continue where you left off Nathan. There will be a transfer…02:01:37Yeah, I’m not quite
Nathan Gerhardt02:01:38Sure, I’m not sure where I …the internet, cut, cut out. We’re in Colorado. You’re having a storm, but02:01:45We’ve been cultivating hemp in Colorado, since 201402:01:48And have since expanded into Kentucky and Oregon. As we expanded, we have experienced dramatic differences in the THC testing protocols applied.02:01:59Depending on which state we cultivate in it is safe to say that a farmer who wants to grow hemp is either at an advantage or disadvantage in the hemp industry, depending on which state they farm in.02:02:09Due to the differences we respectfully ask that the USDA consider these issues when constructing a federal regulatory program by putting in place uniform hemp sampling and testing protocols02:02:22to ensure that every farmer has an equal chance to be successful in the industry. Furthermore, as USDA puts in place it’s hemp sampling protocols, we ask that you do so in a manner02:02:31that’s in accordance with how the industry uses, harvests, and processes its final product. Since hemp is harvested and processed as a whole plant material,02:02:40we feel that samples should be homogenized. We feel this is a critical issue in the hemp industry since not homogenizing material can bias sample results.02:02:51To illustrate, I’ll highlight the differences between the sampling protocol in Kentucky and the sampling protocol in Colorado.02:02:58Colorado’s hemp sampling protocols remove all fiber, seeds, stems, and large leaves prior to testing THC potency.02:03:06This protocol creates a hemp sample that is not representative of what the industry actually harvests, as hemp material can skew the data towards non-compliance.02:03:15Excuse me, Kentucky hemp sampling protocols takes the top eight inches of the flowering plant and homogenizes the material02:03:25prior to THC potency testing. This protocol is more representative of the whole plant.02:03:30It is representative of how the industry is actually processing harvested hemp material prior to commerce or long-term storage.02:03:39While these differences may seem minor, they make a huge difference when determining the THC content needed to pass or fail compliance requirements. It’s unfortunate that just 100th of a percent of THC may determine if a crop is destroyed or usable.02:03:55For this reason…thank you, we’re at the end of your time.02:03:58Good.02:04:00Thank you very much.02:04:02Thank you, Nathan.
Jeffrey Davis02:04:03Thank you for bearing with us. OK, our next speaker is Joe Iacovo.
ZOOM Support02:04:21Okay, Joe has given permission to speak. Joe, you’ll just need to unmute at the bottom left.
Jeffrey Davis02:04:34Joe is currently not unmuting
Unknown Speaker02:04:36himself.
Jeffrey Davis02:04:39We can move forward to the next and come back to Joe.02:04:46Shawn Kastner is our next speaker.
ZOOM Support02:04:53Okay, Shawn, you have permission to speak. Go ahead and unmute at the bottom left, please.
Shawn Kassner02:04:58Great. Can you guys hear me okay?
Jeffrey Davis02:05:01Yeah. Thank you.
Shawn Kassner02:05:04Great. So, a couple of things we’ve heard multiple times as we’ve gone through the different comments and02:05:09I’m a Senior Scientist with Neptune and we do, we’re a consulting company and work within the cannabis industry for hemp and marijuana.02:05:18So one of the things that we find is that the type of testing that’s being done for both hemp and for marijuana is that we need to make sure that we have data of known and documented quality.02:05:30The way to get data of known and documented quality to ensure that we have standardized methods, both within the laboratory and within the field.02:05:38To make sure that we’re getting consistent results across laboratories as was stated earlier, but also across the states as well. The other part of that is making sure that the laboratories themselves have some sort of accreditation as part of their02:05:53process of being in business. That accreditation varies from state to state. A lot of states who have legalized02:06:00marijuana or cannabis for recreational and medicinal purposes, have their own accreditation programs and many others also02:06:08are asking for 1702.5 accreditation, which is also what is in the Food Safety Modernization Act as well.02:06:16So those things are all very important that we would encourage you to think about. How do we have or make sure that the laboratories are knowing what they’re doing,02:06:23and are accredited and producing consistent data across not only within the states, but across the state lines as well?02:06:31As we see international commerce, we’re going to see samples being shipped from state to state and laboratories in different states and for testing. As this is an important process and in clearing the product, we would really want to be able to focus on that.02:06:45The other set of questions or comments I have is has to do with the sampling of hemp in itself. It’s a huge challenge looking across, how to sample acres of material02:06:56as well as within the plant itself and having cannabinoids be at different levels within the plant at02:07:02different aging and at different states as well, whether the sap be pre-harvest or post- harvest or at a drawing stage. So we’d asked you that02:07:12the USDA kind of take a look at different sampling techniques that are already out there. ISO has sampling techniques. FDA has sampling techniques. USDA has sampling techniques that we’ve heard02:07:25previously that the different states also have different protocols. And so perhaps a way of looking across those, coming up with some guidance to help people02:07:34know how to sample and sample appropriately. If you don’t know how to sample appropriately, you don’t have representative02:07:41sampling of what the harvest looks like or the batch looks like. No amount of analytical data is going to be able to save you or tell you what’s really going on there.02:07:48So sampling is very much a key part of what’s going on and provides that material which the laboratories of hemp can test and provide you with accurate information.02:07:58So we’d ask you to really kind of take a look at those things and focus on that. We’ve been involved in quite a bit of work in this area, so02:08:07if you need further help or further guidance or have any questions about comments that I’ve given you feel, feel free to reach out. So we’d appreciate it and….
Jeffrey Davis02:08:17Thank you Shawn, we’re at the end of your time. Thank you for your comments.02:08:23Okay, we’re going to go back to Joe if we can get Joe connected…Joe Iacovo.
ZOOM Support02:08:38Joe does not appear to be02:08:39responding, he’s still muted.
Unknown Speaker02:08:41Okay. then we’ll move ahead to
Jeffrey Davis02:08:43Stephanie Keeffe
Stephanie Keeffe02:08:54Good afternoon. My name is Stephanie Keeffe and I’m the Director of External Affairs for Etain in the state of New York.02:09:01Etain is a family run, woman-owned and operated medical marijuana business committed to manufacturing clean, safe and consistent medical marijuana products for the patients of New York state.02:09:14Etain believes that the hemp regulation should require mandatory product labeling and testing. Further, all extract products should be identified as coming from hemp only.02:09:26We believe there should be provisions for harvesting only feminized plants to mitigate cross-pollination of medical and recreational marijuana. Lastly, we believe it should be mandatory to continue to require the 0.3% THC limit for safety and consumables. Thank you so much.
Jeffrey Davis02:09:47Thank you, Stephanie. We’ll move to our next speaker, which is Cheryl Lohman
cheryl lohman02:10:04Good morning. Can you hear me?
Jeffrey Davis02:10:06Yes, we can hear you.
cheryl lohman02:10:09Oh, great. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. My name is Cheryl Lohmen. I am the Project Manager of the E’ Numu Diip Project.02:10:19We are traditional Indian farmers who are planning to legally participate in the hemp industry and we have selected.02:10:28some of our land to be a demonstration project and we are located in Oregon. We note that USDA is drafting regulations that will provide details on sampling procedures,02:10:42testing requirements, licensing compliance, and other procedures that production facilities and overseeing agencies need to employ02:10:51in order to receive a license from USDA. In reviewing the farm bill, we noticed that the Indian farmer who are02:10:59owners of public domain allotments that are off reservations and retain the same status of an Indian reservation02:11:08and legally defined as “Indian country” are being excluded because our land is a trust resource. We require a license from USDA. We have formed our tribal organizations to comply with the twenty-five Code of Federal Regulations as required to the BIA leasing process.02:11:31We believe because we are not a tribal government we can adopt tribal laws or state regulations to meet USDA requirements, even though they do not have jurisdiction over our land.02:11:45The rights of Indian land owners to use the land, as long as the Indian co-owners are in agreement, the value of the land is preserved and has been demonstrated in the administrative appeal process.02:12:02To the trust resource means interest in land, water, minerals, funds, and other assets or property which is held by the United States interest for an Indian tribe or “an individual Indian”02:12:16or which is held by an Indian tribe or named in subject to restriction on alienation imposed by the United States.02:12:27Our comments on Section 101.02 Local Agricultural Market Program needs a more detailed definition to include the individual Indian land owners who are Indian farmers.02:12:42Section 123.02 Urban Agriculture excludes individual Indian and should read tribal government and Indian individual Indians.
Unknown Speaker02:12:53Section
Jeffrey Davis02:12:54Cheryl, you’re getting close to the end of your time and just give you a heads up for closing remarks.
cheryl lohman02:12:59Okay. In closing, we strongly recommend that a careful review of certain language related to tribes include and individual Indians in order for us to participate legally in the hemp industry. Thank you.
Jeffrey Davis02:13:17Thank you, Cheryl. Our next speaker is also Cheryl, Cheryl Bowie.02:13:23You’re on the line.
Cheryl Bowie02:13:32Can you hear me?
Jeffrey Davis02:13:33Yes, we can hear you.
Cheryl Bowie02:13:36OK, perfect. Okay. My name is Cheryl Bowie. I’m the Owner of @Dreamgbutterflybotanicals. I am Alaska Native and American Indian. I am part in your pack Eskimo and with the Stigler Act Amendment hopefully, I’ll be02:13:51considered a descendant of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation.02:13:55Thank you for holding this listening session as I support the reclassification of hemp and other plant compounds to further02:14:02strategies to develop this and similar industries that rely on science, agriculture, medical, and infrastructure backbones.02:14:10I’ve been working on a paper since a former fellowship, monitoring the changes that cannabis has had on our communities.02:14:17Uniformity and application of law are really, to me, the most notable issues of deploying programs related to this02:14:24in different states and identifying ways to include all community stakeholders is crucial to the success of these programs02:14:30as they often get run hand in hand with other justice reform efforts.02:14:35I believe hemp and other types of cannabis that have undergone recent legal status changes or approvals with other plants that have had huge impact on society such as marijuana02:14:45(largely due to inaccurate science and agricultural policies in the United States and abroad)02:14:50these are opportunities for us to reverse course on really destructive health, agriculture, and economic policies, especially the burdensome impact of miscommunication02:15:00about the hazards of hemp that have grossly impacted the correction systems, prisons and cut short the future of millions of American families.02:15:08It is time to identify and further improve programs tasked with the administration of these laws in various ways, such as criminal justice reforms,02:15:16legal reclassification, new innovative partnerships, research, policies, and avenues that include people impacted by the war on drugs.02:15:25This will help identify and develop new exit strategies for the war on drugs through programs such as hemp small business development,02:15:32and I believe other agencies are currently reviewing and working with agencies such as the SBIR to help roll out new drug development and small business ownership opportunities.02:15:41The FDA has issued botanical drug guidance that I think may be a template for everyone to review as we move forward, if you don’t have anything already in existence.02:15:51On a personal note, I use cannabis and hemp-based compounds in my diet and as opioid replacement since legalization in Alaska.02:15:59And my health has not only been maintained, but it has also considerably improved. And I have an advanced cervical spine02:16:07disorder, so it’s really important to me. I think hemp has a bright future. And I encourage the USDA to continue their efforts to develop new innovative programs that include hemp products. Thank you for the opportunity to submit comment and for moving forward with this.
Jeffrey Davis02:16:25Thank you, Cheryl.02:16:27Our next speaker is Lee Ramsour.
Lee Ramsaur02:16:39Can you hear me now?
Jeffrey Davis02:16:42Yes, we can hear you.
Lee Ramsaur02:16:43Sorry about that….Thank you very much. This like looks like Shark Tank, in a way, right?02:16:48You know, maybe next time.02:16:50You know, you guys can do a little Shark Tank, you know, spoof right so you know, I tried to come prepared totalk about what my company is doing, that’s Greenworks 360 based in Atlanta, Georgia.02:17:04We don’t have a industrial hemp research program, but we are kicking one off this year.02:17:11With our amazing governor, Governor Kemp, as well as University of Georgia….I actually connected University of Georgia to our good folks at GenCanna to help with basically accelerating the program.02:17:27You know, get the program in the right perspective and so forth.02:17:33I have looked at every single state and I’m happy to tell you that the state of Nevada is the most friendliest industrial hemp.02:17:42grower-state and processor-state. One interesting thing is they’re very easy process to apply, but also the community that’s around the industry and the support you get as well as02:17:59the other, of course, the other scenario is02:18:03they don’t have a deadline for their application process, which is interesting.02:18:09I did actually work with the state of Tennessee last year on a twenty-acre farm, went through some growing curves, got scammed on some seed buying from Colorado, got mixed02:18:23hemp male and female seed and I was looking to harvest female seed02:18:30and went through the process of going through the nurturing planting program as well as02:18:38you know, we discovered two hurricanes, tornadoes that came real close to our farm. Luckily, we didn’t get affected but I have found some crop insurance02:18:49connections… anybody needing that from hail perspective as well as wind and also there is a weather hedge and it’s a USDA-certified02:19:00insurance provider and I’ll actually sent that to you guys, too. So, um, but it’s a very interesting program… I’ve had to look for about a year on it and it’s for outdoor growers02:19:11as well and they’ll think about that. What I like to talk about is just solutions you guys at USDA have everything02:19:19Um, one of the interesting things is..I’m actually in the process of getting my controlled substance license from the DEA, so I can handle a controlled substance. If I have that and my grower… I’m having a more of a Delta 9 THC level issue.
Jeffrey Davis02:19:41We’re getting close to the end of your time, so..
Lee Ramsaur02:19:44You guys have all the solutions there…02:19:46I’ll circle back with some ideas and, you know, and I appreciate your time and anything you guys need I’m here, I’m here to help at Greenworks 360 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Jeffrey Davis02:20:00Thank you, Lee.02:20:02Our next speaker is Taylor Reed Branson.
ZOOM Support02:20:13I’m sorry when trying to unmute Taylor Reed Branson. I’m prompted that they are not on the most recent version of ZOOM. So Taylor. If you can visit ZOOM.us/download to install the latest version and rejoin us, we’ll be able to allow you to
Unknown Speaker02:20:29talk.
Jeffrey Davis02:20:32OK, so we’ll move on to Ethel Rowland.
Ethel Rowland02:20:41Good morning, this is Ethel Rowland with Florida Cannabis Action Network. We’re here as advocates of the plant and access to the plant.02:20:51We would like to encourage that and Florida, of course,02:20:57We’d like to encourage that CBD be treated as an approved food product as chocolate is treated and provide protocols as a food product for its long-term storage and use in processing.02:21:18We support the02:21:22inclusion in the future, of former felons in the hemp industry. We think that it’s important to bring in the affected community from the war on drugs, give them opportunities in the market.02:21:41We think that the .02% is too low and would like to see an increase in that02:21:53and02:21:55clarity in the transportation across state lines is a big issue.02:22:03One of the specific things for Florida is our research pilot projects are focusing on the invasive potential of the plant. So if you have any of that information for CASA3 available that would be02:22:22very beneficial. Thank you for the time and thank you for the opportunity to hear the discussion from across the country and we look forward to developing the industry.
Jeffrey Davis02:22:39Thank you, Ethel. Do we have Taylor available or do we move forward?02:22:48Okay.
ZOOM Support02:22:50Oh, I’m sorry. I have been able to unmute Taylor.02:22:53Taylor Reed Branson. Go ahead, please.
Taylor Reed Branson02:22:54Am I coming through?
Jeffrey Davis02:22:55Yes.
Taylor Reed Branson02:22:57My name is Taylor Reed Branson. I am the CEO and Founder of the02:23:00US Hemp Organization. We work to connect existing US industries to the emerging hemp market. We are online at hemp.us.org .02:23:09It has been years of slow moving progress and hemp legislation with numerous setbacks and false starts. Now with the passing of the farm bill, there is the first opportunity in decades to create a hemp industry02:23:19that helps small farmers and builds rural economies.02:23:23This, the weeks and months ahead will determine the fate of whether corporate control dominates the hemp landscape or whether we see the largest redistribution of wealth away from the fossil fuel economy02:23:33and redirected to a renewable agriculture-based economic boom.02:23:37It is important for the USDA to fully understand this crop is significantly relevant in more industries than currently being discussed and has huge potential to greatly02:23:48expand the US economy. Here at the US Hemp Oganization, we are connecting hemp to a number of industries and positioning the crop to play a vital role02:23:58in everything from the next generation of batteries and supercapacitors to bioplastics, fuel, paper, medicine, and more.02:24:06Additionally, for our environment, hemp represents the greatest carbon sequestration, an opportunity to reestablish feed populations, and evolve current farming practices.02:24:17Through building of business-based, profit- driven and co-op structured coalitions committed to representing the small farmer’s role in the hemp industry,02:24:25we can write the laws of hemp to bring maximum benefit to minority and impoverished American farmers.02:24:31In the outlining of provisions for USDA to improve plans submitted by US states, territories and Indian tribes for the commercial production of hemp,02:24:40there must be careful consideration to the small farmers, refiners and producers. This is due to the reality that even in testing for THC content of hemp,02:24:48different parts of the plant can produce different results as can watering schedule, point of lifespan, time of day, storage duration, and a number of other factors which produce differing THC levels.02:25:00Is the USDA going to take this into account? Is there an opportunity to account for these variations now, and an ability to institute a room for variance in test results?02:25:09It is important that hemp is grown organically. This maximizes the medicinal and nutritional qualities of the plant and reduces the environmental impact of its cultivation.02:25:18Allowing tribal participation in the commercial production of hemp is an important economic stimulus to reservations. However, considering the current financial02:25:27status of many tribal communities, does the USDA plan to institute special grant programs for the cultivation of hemp? Will they allow NEPA tribal grants to be used for hemp production?02:25:39For this industry to bring maximum benefit to our small farmers, the application and regulation process must be effortless.02:25:46Will the USDA work to create a system where small producers of industrial hemp are allowed to participate, without the hindrance of bureaucratic entanglement?02:25:55Hemp should be treated the same as any other agricultural commodity. Will AMS commit to address the labeling of CBD and other hemp products in a timely manner, so that effort toward establishing a robust hemp industry is not postponed. In cases…
Jeffrey Davis02:26:11Taylor, we’re at the time…02:26:13…
Taylor Reed Branson02:26:14cultivation of hemp….02:26:14or restricted with pilot program status, can residents apply through the USDA to receive permission for the cultivation of hemp? Why should the prohibition be left in place for areas that hinder hemp cultivation due to limited land allotments? Can they still submit permit applications02:26:32through the USDA. Thank you
Unknown Speaker02:26:34very
Taylor Reed Branson02:26:36much. Enjoy your day.
Jeffrey Davis02:26:38Taylor, we’re going to have to stop you there. Thank you02:26:40Our next speaker is Manilo Mendoza.
ZOOM Support02:26:51I’m sorry, I’m trying to unmute Dr. Mendoza and unfortunately, an older version of the software is in use. So Dr. Mendoza, if you can visit ZOOM.us/download to install the latest version of ZOOM and then rejoin us, we’ll be able to come back to you.
Jeffrey Davis02:27:09Okay. So Mark Scanlan
mark.scanlan02:27:19Good afternoon.02:27:22I’m Mark Scanlon, the Senior Vice President of Agricultural Policy for ICBA which has over 52,000 bank locations across America.02:27:33We’re hearing from a growing number of community bankers who are trying to assess the legal risk of financing hemp,02:27:40growers. and also the related businesses. So their bankers are getting calls from farmers telling them that they’re going to start growing hemp this year as a result of the farm bill, so02:27:53it sounds like what you’re saying is that you’re not going to really have anything in place before the 2020 crop year. So it would be appropriate, we think, if you could issue some guidance laying out the groundwork for what will happen if producers try to grow hemp in 2019.
Jeffrey Davis02:28:12Our other recommendations that
mark.scanlan02:28:15USDA should go ahead and quickly approve state plans submitted to USDA for approval, without waiting to complete a formal national rulemaking process02:28:24and subsequent to that USDA could issue a national rulemaking process. A final rule should not preclude states going ahead and02:28:35getting approval at least for one year for the 2019 crop year. USDA should also engage in outreach to banking regulators to ensure state and federal banking regulators understand that producers of hemp02:28:49and related businesses under the farm bill’s guidelines are indeed legal businesses and able to access loans and financial services from community banks.02:29:00Bank examiners should also be made aware of the legality of these businesses to the farm bill’s exemption of hemp from the Schedule 1 drugs.02:29:10The regulatory framework, state and federal regulators and banking examiners should clearly communicate that banks do not have to file suspicious activity reports or SARS for hemp and hemp products that meet the farm bill guidelines.02:29:26USDA should approve a crop insurance program,02:29:30as soon as possible, perhaps a catastrophic program for the 2019 crop year. And then finally, no state or federal02:29:38plan or regulation should require banking institutions be put into a position of being an enforcer of the legal mechanisms of the statute. USDA should not approve any provision of a state plan that would implement such a requirement.02:29:54Thank you for the opportunity to make comments.
Jeffrey Davis02:29:58Thank you. Our next speaker is Jeff02:30:00Schahczenski.
Jeff Schahczenski02:30:14Hello.
Jeffrey Davis02:30:16Hello, we can hear you.
Jeff Schahczenski02:30:17Okay, my name is Jeff Schahczenski, Agriculture and Natural Resource Economist with the National Center for Appropriate Technology.02:30:25For the past 28 years, we have also run the USDA ATTRA Sustainable Agricultural Program. We provide unbiased scientific information on growing, marketing, and sharing on sustainable and organic agricultural products such as hemp.02:30:44We have had several questions. We run a hotline of both through media, social media and by the old telephone methods02:30:51and we’ve gotten lots of calls from farmers asking about hemp and hemp growing. We have also participated with some farmers, helping some farmers in a pilot program.02:31:02in the state of Montana, where our national office is. I, in particular, I’ve spent my last thirteen years working on crop insurance issues related to sustainable agriculture and particularly, the Whole Farm Revenue.02:31:17Protection Program, which is a very unique comp insurance program that essentially allows anyone to share any set of crops anywhere in the United States, in every county.02:31:27It’s one of the first crop insurance programs to be available and it is in my understanding, a possibility it would seem,.now with the legalization of hemp02:31:37that both in the Whole Farm Revenue Protection Program that we should be able to02:31:44insure hemp under that program. There’s a “other crop” category within all farm revenue which can be used for crops that are not normally listed and now that this is legal. that should be a possible way to insure hemp.02:31:59And the other question and information we’d like to know as soon as possible is how long will it take the USDA Risk Management Agency possibly to develop a single commodity,02:32:12perhaps revenue, ideally revenue-based product to insure hemp growers in the future? The history of that has been it often takes a long time,02:32:22and often is only adopted in certain counties in certain states and this could again be a big barrier to the full development of the hemp industry. So thank you again for this, itt’s been very interesting and informative and useful for our organization.
Jeffrey Davis02:32:43Thank you, Jeff. We have Dr. Mendoza on the line to go back to…
ZOOM Support02:32:52Yes.
Manlio Mendoza02:32:53I’m… here we are.
ZOOM Support02:32:54Go ahead. Dr. Mendoza. Thank you.
Manlio Mendoza02:32:57OK, thank you for the opportunity to02:33:00address this group today. I’m Dr. Manilo Mendoza from Super Natural Organic Farms of America.02:33:11I’m really02:33:14here today to emphasize why industrial hemp is critical to the USDA and the US economy.02:33:22and from the agriculture point of view.02:33:26If you consider that the US agriculture accounts about for 1% of the GDP and only 2% of the US population is our farmers.02:33:39In02:33:402012, there were 3.2 million farmers and in 2016 it went down to 2.6 million farmers. About 75% of the total agricultural production is02:33:56produced by large family farms and only 25% by small farms. In 2017, there were02:34:04758,000 foreign workers that were legally or illegally employed.02:34:13These statistics only demonstrate that the US agriculture has been decaying each year. And one of the reasons that the new generations of farmers do not do not like the hard work in the farming so….02:34:34and also the US agriculture is basically a lesson for only the fans on foreign workers, basically. And in addition to that, large family farms receive billions of dollars in subsidies each year. And when we consider industrial and commercial hemp production,02:35:00it’s a good02:35:03improvement for the02:35:05nation as a whole in the specialty agriculture and by adopting02:35:12the industrialization of hemp, the GDP can jump from02:35:19the basically 1% that we have to about
Jeffrey Davis02:35:2310% over a ten-year period.
Manlio Mendoza02:35:26And by 2025 we can go back to the original 2012 levels of 3.2 million farmers.
Jeffrey Davis02:35:37Just an note that were coming to the end of your time.
Manlio Mendoza02:35:42OK, the main point that I want to make is that it’s important to consider small farmers and minorities veterans02:35:50to be part of this new hemp02:35:58opportunity because they’re the ones that can help the Department of Agriculture grow in the years to come.
Unknown Speaker02:36:07OK..
Jeffrey Davis02:36:09Thank you for your comments. Okay.02:36:14We’ll go to our next speaker, Eric Steenstra.
ZOOM Support02:36:28Okay Eric Steenstra we’ve given you permission to speak, but you’ll need to unmute at the bottom left hand corner please.02:36:39There we are, Eric you are unmuted.
Eric Steenstra02:36:40….feedback today02:36:44and this is an incredibly versatile crop that can provide strong fiber, nutritious seed, and highly valuable phytocompounds including cannabinoids and……02:36:52It’s critical that USDA recognize the full value and potential of having to create regulations that allow farmers to tap into the entire potential of this crop. We urge USDA to replace the statement of principles on industrial hemp which was issued jointly with FDA and DEA with a new02:37:08statement acknowledging that hemp is no longer a controlled substance02:37:11and recognizing the valid hemp uses include all parts of the plant and they’re not only limited to industrial purposes.02:37:20We want USDA to create limited federal regulations. Do not place additional requirements or burdens on farmers. And we urge USDA to treat hemp like other crops as much as possible. Congress defined hemp broadly in the 2018 Farm Bill02:37:36and we urge USDA to embrace and accept this definition. We’re especially concerned about maintaining the final definition given the previous attempts to modify and restate the 2014 Farm Bill definition of industrial hemp in the statement of principles on industrial hemp.02:37:52We also urge USDA to immediately begin certifying hemp crops and hemp products and other02:37:56requirements as organic in the National Organic Program.02:37:59This includes hemp products grown from flower and hemp extracts which USDA previously stated they would not certify.02:38:05Guidance in the NOP 2040 treated American grown hemp differently than hemp grown outside of the US and that should not be the case.02:38:13It’s critical that American breeders be empowered to develop hemp that will meet the needs of today’s manufacturers. Marriage USDA to support and encourage private and university hemp esearch.02:38:22Hemp research is now authorized under Section 7129 Supplemental Alternative Crops and Section 7501 Critical Agricultural Materials Act..02:38:31We urge USDA to prioritize hemp research funding. We also request that USDA welcome ……. positive submissions for the National Center for Genetic Resource Preservation,02:38:41and we request USDA confirm that it will accept submissions for plant02:38:45variety protection. This is critical to encourage breeders to invest the time in developing new invaluable hemp varieties.02:38:51Another important area is in the development of sampling procedures and testing requirements.02:38:55We urge USDA to adopt a sampling procedure and to collect samples from a minimum of thirty plants for a state plant variety and collect significant portions of the top, middle, and bottom of the plant.02:39:05Sampling should begin two to three weeks after flowering in order to allow for harvest at the ideal time after receiving the test results. USDA should allow states to utilize their preferred testing methods as long as they can consistently reproduce accurate results.02:39:20The 2018 Farm Bill also authorizes crop insurance. We encourage USDA Risk Management Agency to seek input from farmers and the hemp industry prior to approval of any crop insurance product.02:39:31Vote HEMP has also collected data from state departments of agriculture and published an annual hemp crop report for the past three years.02:39:36We encourage USDA to require states to collect and report statistics on acreage licensed and planted as well as other useful data that USDA would normally collect on other crops.02:39:49….Submitted comments…. a copy of our 2018 Farm Bill policy guide and model hemp production plan that we developed along with the Cedarburg Law Firm. This production plan has been shared with02:40:01regulators and legislators in order to encourage02:40:03states to prepare to implement state hemp02:40:05property plans in the provisions of the 2018 Farm02:40:08Bill. Thank you for hosting the session today, and then again for welcoming all this feedback from the industry. Thank you, Eric.
Jeffrey Davis02:40:16So we’re getting near the three o’clock time, which is when we have scheduled to stop02:40:21the webinar, but I think we only have about a half a dozen or so speakers left. I just wanted to pause at this point and let everybody know if you registered to speak,02:40:31we’re going to keep going until we make sure we hit all of the fifty folks who did register so02:40:36that may carry us a little bit beyond three o’clock. But I don’t want those who were hanging out there on the phone, wondering if you’re gonna get a chance to speak. If you registered, we’re not going to stop the we hit everybody, okay?02:40:46So Ashley, keep on going….OK, so our next speaker is Sean Pearman who’s speaking on behalf of Ben Fenner.
Ben Fenner02:41:06Hi, this is Ben Fenner. I’m with Fredericks, Peebles, and Morgan. I’m actually going to speak on behalf of Seth Pearman, who is the Tribal Attorney for the Flandereau Santee Sioux Tribe and hopefully can pick up on his comments02:41:20and won’t duplicate the comments that he submitted in writing to USDA. Thanks for hosting and and I just want to make a few quick points.02:41:32And to reiterate what’s already been said, which is that02:41:37we urge USDA to implement guidance documents so that participants can enter the market.02:41:45In the ’19 grow season.02:41:48The markets going to change. There’s gonna be a lot more supply come next couple years and that will put late entrance into a great disadvantage, especially tribes who are02:42:04generally some of the most economically disadvantaged communities in the country. So delaying this out to 2020 or perhaps beyond…. it is going to hurt tribes. Bottom line, so02:42:21we urge the issuance of guidance documents, similar to what FDA has done (for example, in implementing the Tobacco Control Act) until final regs can be implemented. Also, throughout the whole implementation of the hemp provision in the farm bill, tribes were02:42:41were told that…. given assurances that states in which they are located will not be able to interfere with transport outside of tribal02:42:51lands through state lands in interstate commerce and we’re expecting fully USDA to carry forward that congressional promise and uphold its trust responsibility to tribes and protect tribes rights to engage in that commerce..02:43:12A question has been raised to what02:43:15the federal government’s role will be in approving tribal plans or perhaps even how tribes can implement02:43:25or adopt a federal plan? USDA could address that concern02:43:31for us. Fourthly, I want to make USDA aware that tribes are not only going to be primary regulators, but often operators in this industry. That’s a unique situation in Indian country that I want USDA to be aware of.02:43:46Furthermore, the Flandereau Santee Sioux Tribe certainly does not support the premise that the ’14 Farm Act applies under 293 B1-4.
Jeffrey Davis02:44:02Ben, just a quick note we’re getting to the end of your time slot.
Ben Fenner02:44:04Thank you. And finally, let me just make this final point.02:44:07Tribal lands are leased out. And for the tribe to bring that land back in into its fold to operate a hemp grow operation, it will have to cancel those leases, which will add lead time to this. So again, timing, timing, timing is crucial. We urge USDA to allow02:44:27the Flandereau Santee Sioux Tribe, other tribes who are interested in entering the market to enter in the ’19 growth season through the issuance of regulations or guidance documents or otherwise.02:44:40Thank you so much.
Jeffrey Davis02:44:42Thank you.02:44:43Our next speaker is Brian Wickert.
ZOOM Support02:45:01I’m sorry I’m not having any luck finding Brian
Jeffrey Davis02:45:04Bear with me. Just a sec.
ZOOM Support02:45:06And does not appear to be online.
Jeffrey Davis02:45:10OK, we’ll move to Cliff Friedland
ZOOM Support02:45:16Okay, here we are. Cliff Friedland.02:45:26Clifford, you’ll need to unmute at the bottom left in order to speak, please.02:45:42I’m sorry, I’m not getting a response. They’re still muted.
Jeffrey Davis02:45:44Okay, in the meantime we’ll go to Andre Morse.
ZOOM Support02:45:55Okay, and we’ve allowed talking for Andre Morse. You’ll need to unmute. Thank you..
Andre Morse02:45:58Hello. Veterans to hemp fuel farmers program. Objective: provide employment for veterans and industrial hemp fuel02:46:05farms. Veterans can apply for a streamlined process to start farming hemp fields specifically.02:46:11Veterans can achieve this in various ways using programs now offered inter alia by the offices of the Interior, the USDA, the FSA, the Veterans Administration.02:46:22This proposal will in addition help to establish guidelines for funding programs that will support this objective while developing the nascent hemp02:46:31industry in the United States. These programs have all one thing in common; energy production, carbon neutrality, and conservation.02:46:41The hemp industry is in its infancy in America. Now is it time to define the different types of hemp power with rules apply to categories that hemp farming, such as fuel, fiber, food.02:46:53These will define which federal agencies a farmer must apply to or which ones he needs not to apply to. Realistically, hemp fuel farmers can apply to every department, listing their proposal on different grounds and programs.
Jeffrey Davis02:47:07Having a clearer definition set for the types of
Andre Morse02:47:10hemp farms that need to register and with which federal agency they need to register is viable for the future development of the industrial hemp crop in America.02:47:19Hemp fuel provides a key to national defense, as well as the multitude of other products that can be derived from the cannabis sativa plant.02:47:29And biodiesel is man-made, manufactured fuel. The Department of Defense uses 4.6 billion gallons annually.02:47:37Which means that of the 640 million acres owned by the federal government,02:47:41it only needs 16 million acres farm per year to end the Department of Defense’s reliance on imported and domestic fossil fuels,02:47:50which incidentally is mandated by federal law. To achieve this, the adoption of hemp-based biodiesel02:47:56and substitute for the fossil fuel setup satisfies the DOD’s federal obligations and in addition to providing retirees and veterans02:48:05a means of employment that will allow them to continue their work in national defense.02:48:11It will eliminate the licensing process for veterans and active production of hemp fuels for the military, whether it’s set up as a family farm, a collective, or commercial entity.02:48:22If a licensing process is found necessary, commissary contracts can provide the DOD hemp fuels can be used in lieu of cash payments for licensing,02:48:32thus eliminating a hindering factor for veterans seeking to become hemp farmers.02:48:37This would allow veterans to use all department grant and loan programs in conjunction with alleviating the financial burden faced with developing a hemp fuel farm, granting them access to equipment, education, home ownership, self employment, and resilience after service to our nation.02:48:56Establish a
Jeffrey Davis02:48:57This is just a notice you’re getting to the end of your time.02:49:00Alright.
Andre Morse02:49:01Establish a background checking system of the DEA using a controlled substance ordering system,02:49:09so they can do their duties under Title 21-1308.35 .02:49:15and define when and how seeds, viable seeds can be imported into the United States. That is a very important question for which, if it’s going to be for the food crop, or for the fiber crop, or for a fuel crop, because they’re very different crops.
Jeffrey Davis02:49:36OK, we’ll have top stop you there as we’re at the three minute mark.02:49:40Thank you.02:49:42Okay, so can we go back to Cliff02:49:45Friedland?
ZOOM Support02:49:54Okay, I’ve given permission to Cliff Friedland02:49:57to speak Cliff is unmuted, now go ahead
Clifford Friedland02:50:00Okay. Can you guys hear me?
Jeffrey Davis02:50:02Yeah. Great. Okay.
Unknown Speaker02:50:05So,
Clifford Friedland02:50:07I want to thank you for providing the forum today. One of the big issues facing licensed hemp farmers are the inconsistent rules for establishing procedures for testing02:50:18less than .3% THC 89 and shipping biomass between states.02:50:24While the 2018 Farm Bill prohibits states from restricting interstate commerce of hemp, it is still possible for law enforcement02:50:32from a state in which a carrier is passing through to test the hemp for THC on suspicions that the biomass exceeds the maximum allowed under the bill.02:50:42In order to promote interstate trade for legal industrial hemp, it is critical for the federal government to02:50:48establish specific regulations, procedures that states will follow regarding uniform testing procedures, approved manufacturers of lab testing equipment,02:50:57certified technicians, approved sampling procedures, approve environmentally controlled facilities to store the biomass through testing,02:51:05and establishing a maximum time allowed to complete the testing. If the state does not have the ability to fulfill these requirements, t hey should send a sample to a bonded commercial testing lab who can.02:51:16Additionally, there should be a process where a federal bonding is put in place and a proper seal should be placed in the back of the carrier that prohibits states from opening up the truck.02:51:26Without these rules and procedures put in place, no farmer or his customer will feel the prohibition of restricted interstate commercial hemp is real. Thank you.
Jeffrey Davis02:51:40Thank you, Cliff. Our next speaker is Judith Cassell.02:51:45Cassell.02:51:50Hi, can you hear me? This is Judith Cassell. Yes, we can hear you. Well, first of all, I’d like to thank the group they’re sitting at the
Judith Cassel02:51:58table, not only for facilitating this call but for your endurance today, which has been supplied by your copious notes and your attentiveness. So I appreciate it.02:52:08I am from Cannabis Law PA and although we work throughout the country to assist clients,02:52:12we are based in Pennsylvania, which you probably know was once in 1729 the actual capital of hemp in the US, and we still have a town called Hempfield in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania today.02:52:23And I offer the following comments. Given the number of CBD dietary supplement products on the market, a distinction should be made based on the percent of the hemp-based CBD oil content02:52:34in any particular product as to whether that product should be classified as dietary supplement (food grade not subject to FDA approval) or medicine grade (requiring FDA approval).
Jeffrey Davis02:52:46Distinction was recently recognized by the FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb.
Judith Cassel02:52:50in testimony before the House Appropriations Committee.02:52:54The second comment I’d like to make is that the Farm Bill gives states primary regulatory authority over the production of hemp,02:53:01and a state’s plan is required to include a procedure for testing. However, this testing is limited to ensuring that hemp and hemp-resulting derived products02:53:10don’t exceed that statutory point .3% THC threshold. But based on recent research in the field of remediation, hemp is proving to be a superior option for remediating brownfields as well as other sources of contamination.02:53:25Such locations for this type of hemp cleanup range from Colorado’s absorption of selenium, a naturally occurring but highly dangerous mineral, to …………….. radiation.
Jeffrey Davis02:53:35facilities that store these dangerous chemicals along with heavy metals, testing for these chemicals and heavy metals should be incorporated into and required by a state’s plan for testing hemp products. I’d like to suggest that
Judith Cassel02:53:48for those states that currently have medical marijuana on the testing sites that test medical marijuana might be used to test hemp because they are already stocked with PhD’s,02:53:58experts, technology and equipment…. capable of performing these types of tests and they are ISO-accredited and they are already in place.02:54:08The regulations should also clarify the removal of restrictions concerning the distance between CBD growth and industrial hemp growers.02:54:15Typically, distance requirements should be based on industry best practices only.02:54:20The final comment I would like to make is that the regulation should clarify the removal of any restrictions as to when and how hemp can be processed,02:54:27especially as it pertains to any restrictions on processing hemp products where other non-hemp products are also processed. Such clarifications will create efficiencies in processing end-products that contain hemp…and I thank you again for your
Jeffrey Davis02:54:41attention and support.02:54:45Our next speaker is Deborah Walter.
ZOOM Support02:55:02Okay, I actually have two participants by that name. Deborah, you’ll just need to unmute at the bottom left.02:55:12One of the Deborah Walters, I am able to allow to tall, the other I am not…..02:55:24Okay, so Deborah, if you’re able to head to02:55:26ZOOM.us/download02:55:29make sure you’re on the latest version of the software. If you can rejoin us, will be able to allow you to talk
Unknown Speaker02:55:34Sorry about the delay.
Jeffrey Davis02:55:36OK, so we’ll move on to Veronica Carpio.
ZOOM Support02:55:46Okay. Veronica now has permission to speak. Veronica, you can unmute…02:55:56It appears that Veronica has unmuted, but I’m unable to hear…02:56:01Veronica, maybe that your microphone is muted or not working.02:56:07I see that you’ve muted and unmuted again. We’re still unable to hear you. I’m sorry for the trouble.
Jeffrey Davis02:56:14So those are our final two speakers, with the exception of Joe Iacovo, who was able to fix his02:56:23technical issues.02:56:27Okay.
ZOOM Support02:56:28let me check with Joe.02:56:33Joe, I have given you permission to speak. If you can unmute at the bottom left.02:56:42and we don’t have a response from Joe. He’s still muted.
Jeffrey Davis02:56:47Okay.02:56:51The final three that I have up ending….as being on and are still available to participate….02:56:58So in that case, I think…..02:57:00we can go ahead and let you AMS Administrator Summers give some closing remarks.02:57:05Well, three hours. That was an action- packed three hours and I know we started it with well over 3,000 participants.02:57:13I don’t know how many are still out there listening, but those of you that hung out all the way to the end thank you very much. And to the folks who provided comments,02:57:22really an outstanding job. A lot of really important comments. We’ve taken a lot of notes, of course, it’s also being recorded. This will really be helpful to us moving forward.02:57:32I want to thank the folks. Everyone was very respectful of everyone’s time. I think you guys did a great job preparing those comments, they’re really pegged to that three minute mark,02:57:41and that’s really respectful to the entire community out there. So we really thank you for that. We thank you for your time today and you’ve got our contact information if you want to reach out, through email or phone calls. We’ll be happy02:57:54to continue to work with you as we develop this important rulemaking process. So on behalf of AMS and the United States Department of Agriculture, thank you very much and I hope you’ll have a great rest of your day. Thank you.Powered by Otter.ai
