Alabama sets license application deadline

Alabama hemp farmers have until Nov. 30 to apply for their licenses this year. Applications can be filed through an online system recently opened. Almost 600 farmers were licensed to grow hemp in Alabama this year, more than triple the 182 licensees approved in 2019, the first year of hemp growing in the state. About 90% of the hemp planted in Alabama in 2019 was grown for CBD. Alabama’s hemp industry currently operates under a pilot program established as a result of the 2014 federal Farm Bill. The subsequent U.S. Farm Bill (2018) set a new scheme for the hemp industry; the government gave states the option of submitting updated hemp rules to comply with the new law or continuing for one year to operate under the 2014 scheme.