NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Department of Agriculture is making big changes to its hemp program.
Hemp producers will now be able to apply for a license to grow the crop year-round, a news release from TDA said Monday.
The application period used to last for three months, from mid-November to mid-February. Which means those that missed the deadline can now apply whenever they want.
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“Farmers have been growing and researching this crop in Tennessee since the program began in 2015 as a pilot program,” Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, D.V.M. said in the release. “The hemp industry and federal laws have changed in recent years, and we’re updating our program rules to be more consistent with how other crop programs are managed.”
The new licenses will expire on June 30 of each year, with all of those issued in 2019 expiring June 2020.
Hemp processors also won't be required to register through TDA anymore, and licenses won't be issued for certified seed breeders either.
But, those manufacturing, distributing or labeling seed will need to be licensed through TDA's Ag Inputs section and growers will still need movement permits to transport rooted plants.
One new requirement? Growers will need to be permitted when moving harvested hemp from their growing site.
"Federal and state laws require Tennessee hemp growers be licensed through TDA’s hemp program," the release said. "While the 2018 Farm Bill removes hemp from the list of federally controlled substances, it remains illegal to grow hemp without a license through an approved state program."
So far, TDA has issued more than 2,900 hemp licenses in 2019. Compare that with 2018, when the department approved just 226 producer licenses.