Hawaii farmers worry USDA’s federal hemp program will be cost-prohibitive, less protective

The state of Hawaii will end its industrial hemp pilot program at the end of October, and instead steer farmers toward applying for U.S. Department of Agriculture licenses.

Gov. David Ige signed a bill that would legalize hemp production throughout the state after Hawaii’s last legislative session. But although states were granted a reprieve to continue their pilot programs until September 2021, Hawaii opted out.

Proponents of building a stronger hemp industry in Hawaii had hoped that the crop would restore the island state’s deep agricultural tradition after the departure of sugar and pineapple crops left tens of thousands of acres fallow. The state’s economy has been especially hard-hit during the coronavirus pandemic because its number one industry, tourism, has been essentially shut down, causing widespread job loss and food insecurity for Hawaiians.

But now, Hawaii’s hemp farmers are concerned that the federal hemp production program will be too costly and that the lack of local oversight will mean more risks.

The less-stringent federal program will mean more restrictions, pointing to the rule that states that the third time a crop tests too high for THC, growers can lose their license, according to West Hawaii Today.

As another example, growers were allowed to mulch non-compliant crops in Hawaii’s pilot program, but under the USDA program, growers would be required to pay the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to retrieve hot crops and haul them away – at high costs to farmers in the remote island state.

Further, growers are worried that the USDA program won’t protect local farmers, allowing farms and companies with no native Hawaiian affiliation to buy Hawaii farmland to grow hemp and take advantage of the “made in Hawaii” without money returning to the state.

“I worry that it sets us up for hemp to be just a resource that is extracted from Hawaii,” said Gail Baber, a Big Island hemp grower who was one of the first in the state to be licensed through the pilot program.

Hawaii’s hemp farmers will have to wait until the 2021 legislative session to push for a state program.

Meanwhile, farmers can apply for the USDA program online. USDA program licenses will take effect Nov. 1.