An amendment to Missouri’s state hemp plan has been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), bringing the state in compliance with federal law and regulations in the 2018 U.S. farm bill that legalized hemp federally.
Key changes to the Missouri state hemp program in include:
- Increasing the pre-harvest window for THC compliance sampling from 15 to 30 days.
- Allowing remediation options for eligible crops that initially test above 0.3% total THC.
- Updating requirements for testing laboratories to be ISO 17025 accredited and after 12/31/2022, also registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
Last year, more than 200 producer registrations were issued in Missouri and 811 acres of industrial hemp were planted – including varieties grown for flower, fiber, seed, and grain. The state handed out 207 producer licenses and 78 farming licenses in 2020, MDA said. Eighty hemp “samplers” across 38 counties were certified to collect compliance samples in the program’s inaugural year.
55% CBD
Farming for cannabinoids has dominated hemp growing in Missouri, with fields planned for output of flowers for CBD and CBG making up 55% of the statewide total recorded by the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA). That figure most likely would have been higher but for global CBD market difficulties brought on by overproduction that left many American farmers with unsold crops in 2019.
U.S. states, tribes and territories must have hemp plans approved by the end of the year or defer regulatory authority to the USDA.
