By Karla Arboleda People in South Carolina looking forward to growing industrial hemp will be able to get research updates from Clemson University. While hemp pesticides have been approved in South Carolina, growers are still awaiting more regulations to be established by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA). David Dewitt, state coordinator for the Clemson Extension Hemp Program, talked …
Florida Association Works With Future Hemp Community
By Karla Arboleda This month, those preparing to enter the hemp industry in Florida received legislative updates and attended meetings that were part of a statewide hemp road tour led by the Hemp Industries Association of Florida (HIAF). HIAF Chairman David Hasenauer hosted the meetings, which included several speakers that provided information on how to get started with growing hemp. …
Florida Eyes Washington on Hemp Rules
Florida farmers might not be held back from planting hemp next year, even if the federal government has not signed off on long-awaited rule changes. Holly Bell, Florida’s director of cannabis, told the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday that, if all goes well, the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ permitting for hemp could be available to farmers by …
Industry Responds to EPA WOTUS Announcement
(Washington, D.C. (USDA-September 12, 2019) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue praised the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for taking another step to fulfill President Trump’s pledge to repeal and replace the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. “Repealing the WOTUS rule is a major win for American agriculture. The extreme overreach from the past Administration had government taking …
Invasion Risk of Hemp Under Research
By Karla Arboleda While the road to hemp production is still under way, University of Florida (UF) researchers are analyzing the risk it poses for invasion. Researchers began digging deeper into what future hemp growers and consumers can look forward to through the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Industrial Hemp Pilot Program. Susan Canavan, a post-doctoral agronomy researcher …
Closing the Information Gap on the Produce Safety Rule
By Karla Arboleda A study conducted by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service showed that growers across the United States expressed uncertainty over new food safety requirements for their operations due to an information gap. Researchers compared illness outbreaks associated with tomatoes, strawberries, cantaloupes and apples between 1998 and 2016. In order to have the first …
Traveling Hemp Workshop Attracts Potential Growers
The University of Florida (UF) Hemp Pilot Project strives to keep growers informed on everything hemp. In an effort to do just that, Zachary Brym, agronomist at the UF Tropical Research and Education Center and Hemp Pilot Project coordinator, has put together a traveling hemp workshop. The first workshop was held on July 30 in Gainesville, Florida. The workshop was …
Labor Struggles Continue
By Amy Wolfe Growers across the United States, and the Southeast in particular, are once again challenged to find stable, consistent and quality sources of labor. Long dependent upon the H-2A guest worker visa program, growers continue to rely heavily on their knowledge and effective use of the only viable, legal mechanism for securing foreign labor. Trends show, however, that …
New Hemp Industry Buoyed by CBD Demand
TALLAHASSEE (NSF) — Hemp has been hyped as a lifesaver for Florida farmers, touted as a versatile crop that can be used to build houses, feed livestock and create clothing. But it’s the plant’s healing qualities that have sparked a second cannabis “green rush,” as the state’s hemp program gets off the ground. The nationwide craze for products containing CBD …
Nikki Fried Announces Members of New Hemp Advisory Committee
Commissioner Nicole “Nikki” Fried announced the members of her new Hemp Advisory Committee, which will help guide the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ hemp rulemaking process and the state’s emerging hemp industry development. Commissioner Fried is committed to Florida becoming a national leader on industrial hemp production. The appointment of committee members comes after the department held three workshops …