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Law allows Illinois farmers to grow, market industrial hemp 


By TIM ALEXANDER

Illinois Correspondent

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — A new law will add Illinois farmers to the growing number of states that allow farmers to cultivate and sell hemp grown for industrial purposes. The Illinois Industrial Hemp Act (Senate Bill 2298) allows farmers to apply to the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) to grow the crop, which is used in the manufacture of paper, fabrics, plastics, textiles and even fuel. The act was signed into law by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner on August 25, taking effect immediately.

“Legalizing the farming of industrial hemp just makes good sense,” Rauner said. “Roughly 38 states — including our neighbors in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and Tennessee — have allowed or are considering allowing cultivation of this crop for commercial, research or pilot programs. Our farmers should have this option as well.”

The bill’s passage will provide investment and economic growth to Illinois through a new sustainable agriculture industry, according to Jen Welling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council. “Industrial hemp will bring new opportunities to Illinois farmers. We are very grateful to the elected officials and advocates that worked so long to pass the right bill for Illinois.”

Among the advocates working for passage were Illinois agricultural organizations including the Illinois Farm Bureau, which views hemp production as an opportunity for farmers to diversify their farms during a time of low corn and soybean prices. Interest from farmer-members of the farm bureau is growing for the topic of industrial hemp cultivation as a cash crop, according to Bill Bodine, IFB associate director of state legislation.

“We’ve been contacted by farmers around the state of Illinois possibly interested in growing hemp, but time will be needed for a market to be developed,” he told Farm World, adding that farmers have a lot of questions regarding the opportunity. “Is there a specific area that might be better for production? I think this is something to be learned through this process. We haven’t grown it before, so maybe there are certain soil conditions or types or geographical region where hemp might be a better opportunity for farmers. We just don’t know yet.”

Any acreage displacement that might occur in Illinois due to hemp production would be minimal, Bodine said. He cited current USDA agricultural reports for hemp acreage in Kentucky, where the industrial growth of hemp has been allowed as a pilot program since passage of the 2014 Farm Bill, which established guidelines for university projects studying hemp. Just 3,200 acres were devoted to hemp production in Kentucky in 2017, Bodine noted.

“This market will have to develop. Any displacement will be small at first. If opportunities prove to be good for farmers, then you will see additional acres,” he said.

The IDOA will be charged with processing license applications for growers and establishing rules of compliance, including THC-level testing of industrial hemp crops. Bodine wants all Illinois farmers thinking of adding hemp to their operations to know that regulation of the formerly illegal crop will be closely guarded by the IDOA, which has less than four months to establish guidelines.

“They are going to have to be licensed by the IDOA to grow this crop,” he said. “This is going to be a regulated process and this plant, technically, is still on the controlled substance list of the federal government. Farmers will have to be very careful and operate under the laws of the state of Illinois. It is not like a farmer can just plant it.”

Regulations likely will include farmers having to disclose the location and acreage of proposed hemp fields, and a possible background check for criminal activity. The Illinois legislature will have to approve the IDOA-recommended guidelines before they become law.

Illinois universities have been developing a pilot program for the cultivation and marketing of hemp since a 2015 state bill allowed state universities with four-year agriculture programs to establish the programs.

State efforts to allow industrial hemp growth may turn out to be redundant, of course, if language in the final 2018 Farm Bill unifies state regulations under the federal umbrella, as some hemp advocates desire.

“Illinois has some of the best farmland in the Midwest, with fertile agricultural land across all regions of our state,” said Illinois Industrial Hemp Act sponsor State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D-Chicago Heights). “This new law ensures our farmers have the ability to produce a product that is already available in our stores.”

9/12/2018