The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published the final rule in the federal register concerning Domestic Hemp Production. South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association Executive Director Katie Sieverding says they are pleased with the final rule and that the USDA extended the rule for sample collection from 15 days to 30 days.

She says another good change the Ag Department made with the rule is the threshold for finding negligence going from point 5 percent to one percent THC.

Sieverding says now that the rule has been finalized at the federal level, the South Dakota Industrial Hemp Association will be sponsoring a bill in the state legislature to follow the federal rule that takes the sample collection from 15 days to 30 days.

Another allowance USDA made is that because there are not enough Drug Enforcement Administration registered laboratories to test all hemp in 2020 and 2021, non-DEA registered labs will be recognized for testing until January 1, 2022.