2018 Farm Bill provides stability for Tennessee farmers and opportunity to benefit from growing hemp
Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee members were briefed by the Tennessee Farm Bureau and the Department of Agriculture (TDA) this week on the effects of the federal Agriculture Improvement Act enacted by Congress last year. The new law, also known as the “farm bill,” aims to be the nation’s food security policy.
“Certainly, farmers and rural communities are the ones that benefit from certain titles of the program,” said Stefan Maupin, Public Policy Director of the TN Farm Bureau. “But overall, its purpose is to ensure that the nation never goes hungry.”
Over 70 percent of the Farm Bill is the nutrition program, which includes the nation’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The legislation also provides another five years of certainty and stability to farm and ranch families by improving risk management programs, protecting crop insurance, and funds much-needed trade development.
In addition, the federal act removes hemp containing less than 0.3% THC from the Controlled Substance Act (CSA), making it like any other agriculture commodity. State officials say this provision gives opportunities for industrial hemp to be an alternative and profitable commodity for the many struggling farms in Tennessee.
Federal and state laws require Tennessee industrial hemp growers be licensed through TDA’s industrial hemp program. The Tennessee Department of Agriculture announced earlier this week that the deadline for submitting an industrial hemp grower license is February 15.
Agriculture and forestry are a vital sector in the state and contribute approximately $74.8 billion to Tennessee’s economy each year.