Delaware is the second East Coast state to receive approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to administer a domestic hemp program.
The state Department of Agriculture announced this week it is assuming primary regulatory responsibility of hemp production in First State with this year’s growing season.
Jessica Inhof is the Plant Industries Administrator at the Delaware Department of Agriculture. She explains what the approval means.
"To move forward under the 2018 Farm Bill which removes the research component, acreage limitations. It just makes us a state with a full-blown production hemp program," said Inhof.
Hemp is used to produce clothing textiles, industrial textiles, paper, building materials and products to support other agricultural industries.
The Ag Department worked with Delaware State University last summer to study how to best grow hemp locally. The Department’s Plant Industries Administrator Jessica Inhof says they learned quite a bit from that study.
"We limited the acreage for growers, so that they did not necessarily get in over their heads that everyone was on the same playing field with smaller quantities of growing that was indoor, less than 10 acres and that allowed for understanding how to crop grows, what's the inputs that are required, what to do with it once you harvest it," said Inhof.
Inhof adds DSU is collecting information from the growers, and still processing those results.
In a statement, Gov. John Carney (D-Delaware) says the move allows Delaware farmers to produce another crop and provides value-added products will continue to grow small business in the state.
Agriculture Secretary Michael Scuse adds it allows Delaware growers to diversify their operations and spread their risk.
The Ag. Department plans to release information on participating in the state’s hemp production program - and how to register - early next month.
