When lawmakers passed a spending bill ending the federal government shutdown, many people celebrated — but not hemp farmers. That’s because language contained in the spending bill threatens to ban nearly all products derived from the hemp they grow. Daniel Larlham Jr. spoke with North Carolina hemp farmers for the Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter.
Marshall Terry: What was the previous law change that allowed hemp farmers to expand, and what does the new spending bill Congress passed say as far as hemp goes?
Daniel Larlham Jr.: So the law that allowed for hemp to expand, its commonly known as the farm bill; it was the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018. North Carolina was a little bit of an early adopter of the plant, from what I understand, due to a pilot program, but the farm bill is what really opened the doors on the industry.
That bill defines hemp as containing less than 0.3% of delta-9 THC. What the spending package does is it excludes products containing cannabinoids that are not capable of being naturally produced by the plant, and it also bans cannabinoids that are able to be naturally produced by the plant but were manufactured outside of it. So in a lab or what have you.
The other thing it does is it excludes intermediate hemp-derived products containing more than 0.3% total THC and final hemp-derived products containing more than 0.4 milligrams per container of total THC. That's sort of what farmers are really worried about is that second part, because the 0.4 milligrams per container of total THC would seemingly eliminate just about all of the products currently available on the market, including things like full-spectrum CBD products.
Terry: Where does North Carolina rank in terms of the production of hemp-derived products? How many people does that employ here?
Larlham Jr.: According to a national study published by Whitney Economics in 2023, North Carolina ranked sixth nationally in production of hemp-derived products, and it estimated that the industry employed just under 8,800 people.
Terry: You spoke to one farmer near Asheville who began growing hemp in the past decade because he saw an opportunity with the law change. Tell me more about him and his farm and the products made from the hemp he grows.
Larlham Jr.: That's Dana Rider. He and his wife bought land out there and they were in the process of figuring out what they wanted to grow. The farm bill comes along and they kind of hang their hat on hemp. So things like hemp oil, the flower itself, gummies, a CBD coffee, topicals, beard oils, all sorts of stuff. They started selling them locally and online and built their brand, Otherside Hemp, around that. Because of it, they've been able to raise their family on their farm. I got the impression from speaking with him that they found a lot of success in what they're doing out there.
Terry: And how is he handling this impending change? How would it affect his business?
Larlham Jr.: He says it's early, so they're going to continue operating as they have been and hoping that something is going to change down the line. But if nothing changes, then he said things would be really rough for him and his family. To kind of paraphrase his quote in my story, he said that it's kind of like waking up one day and everything you've worked for years and years on is just kind of gone.
Terry: This ban doesn’t go into effect for another year and he is hoping for change. Is there any chance that could happen?
Larlham Jr.: More guidance on the law is supposed to be announced early next year. I've also heard that the industry as a whole is really galvanized and looking to enact some sort of change as far as both this bill and regulations that might be put in place instead of this language. I do know that a bill has already been filed by South Carolina congresswoman Nancy Mace that would strike the language outright. So it's certainly a possibility.
