Georgia’s 2020 hemp season is nearing an end as harvests wind down across the state. It’s never too early, though, to start thinking about next year’s production season.
According to the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA), applications for new Georgia hemp grower licenses and hemp processor permits will be accepted beginning in January, 2021.
Growers licensed by the GDA are authorized to grow and handle hemp in Georgia.
For More Information
Current Georgia hemp grower licensees and hemp processor permittees can contact hemp@agr.georgia.gov for renewal information.
Under the authority of the Georgia Hemp Farming Act, the Georgia Department of Agriculture is authorized to regulate the cultivation and processing of hemp in the state of Georgia.
Mike Evans, the director of plant industries who oversees the hemp program at the GDA, said they had received 166 applicants from farmers who were interested in growing hemp in early April.
Within Legal Limits
According to Tim Coolong, associate professor in the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the state’s hemp producers stayed within the legal parameters of hemp production.
What distinguishes hemp from marijuana is the amount of THC or tetrahydrocannabinol present in the plant. It is the main compound in cannabis that produces the “high” sensation.
Legal hemp must contain no more than 0.3 percent of THC. Otherwise, the THC is at an unacceptable level, and the crop must be destroyed. That doesn’t appear to have been the case this year, though.