Minnesota Department of Agriculture officials have submitted comments to the USDA on their industrial hemp rules. Ag Commissioner Thom Petersen says there needs to be some changes made to the federal regulations, including hemp testing guidelines.
He says they want the USDA to make some adjustments to the legal THC level, so growers aren’t criminally liable if it is only slightly above .3 percent. That is the threshold where the government destroys the hemp crop.
Petersen says another problem is hemp testing must be done at DEA certified laboratories and Minnesota doesn’t have any. That puts a great burden on their state inspectors who can’t keep up with the 8,000 acres that’s already grown.
He says they’ve received several hundred applications from growers interested in growing hemp in Minnesota for this year. Petersen says the biggest market for hemp is CBD oil which covers about 70 percent of the crop. He says other markets are for organic grain and fiber.
