Federal Department of Agriculture Listening Session for Drafting Federal Rules on Hemp Production

The Untied States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is preparing to write rules on the production of industrial hemp, and wants input from the public.  The 2018 Farm Bill that re-legalized hemp requires the Agriculture Marketing Services to seek public input before they draft administrative rules.   One area they are looking for input is how the USDA can partner with the various state and tribal agricultural departments to create rules.  It is required that you register in advance if you want to comment. The USDA will take the input, hopefully, into consideration when they draft administrative rules.  Many different segments of the industry will be watching and providing input, it should be interesting to see what comments they receive.

WHEN: March 13, 2019

TIME: 9:00 am (PDT) to 12:00 pm.

Registration is required.

Deadline for registration is March 11, 2019, to speak during the listening session and to provide oral comments during the listening session. Register in advance for this webinar: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_L2G9K7cXTkayQ2O1_0AP0g.

Comments:  For those presenting comments at the online listening session, a written copy of your comments is due by March 11, 2019.  Use [email protected] to submit your written comments via email.  They require that you list your name, organization if any, street and email addresses, as well as phone number.

Purpose:  Is for the Agriculture Marketing Services (AMS) to hear from the public as they work to implement the 2018 Farm Bill; this is not a discussion with AMS officials or a question-and-answer session.  The purpose is for AMS to receive public input that the agency can factor into discretionary decisions that need to be made to implement the specific provision of the 2018 Farm Bill. They want to hear your priorities, concerns and request.  The listening session will begin with brief opening remarks from AMS. Individual speakers providing oral comments will be limited to 3-5 minutes each, depending on the number of people who register to speak. As noted above, they request that speakers providing oral comments also submit a written copy of their comments prior to the session.