Michigan farmers cleared for hemp production for 2019 season

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state’s agriculture department launched hemp licensing for the 2019 planting season Thursday, ensuring that Michigan’s agriculture industry won’t miss out this year.

“Michigan is uniquely positioned to grow, process and manufacture industrial hemp (as) one of the nation’s most agriculturally diverse states,” Whitmer said in a news release from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD).

While the U.S. Department of Agriculture develops federal hemp production rules under the 2018 Farm Bill, Michigan will use authority granted in the 2014 Farm Bill to explore the viability of industrial hemp and its production and processing demands in the state.

MDARD will begin accepting license applications next week. Grower registration costs $100 and a processor-handler license costs $1,350.