Do You Have Your Eye on the 2023 Farm Bill? You Should.

SAFE banking is getting all of the federal reform headlines but the 2023 Farm Bill presents an equally impactful opportunity for the 50 state markets in the US.

The leading hemp organizations, including the Hemp Industries Association, National Industrial Hemp Council of America and U.S. Hemp Roundtable, created a “priority policy document” that outlines the most important items to consider for enactment in the 2023 Farm Bill. Since this document was released, 30+ state, regional and national nonprofit organizations have signed on in support. The document lists nine priority policies:

1. Regulate CBD Now
2. Hemp As a Specialty Crop
3. Promote Hemp Research at HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and Hispanic Serving Institutions
4. Bolster The USDA Hemp Program
5. Repeal The Hemp Felon Ban
6. Remove the Requirement for DEA Registration of Hemp Testing Labs
7. Permit Hemp Grain for Animal Feed
8. Addressing THC Levels for Hemp
9. Ease Regulatory Burdens on Hemp Farmers

I was pleased to see this coordinated effort and it made we wonder two questions:

1. Can we do this at the national level on the high THC cannabis side of advocacy and lobbying?
2. Do we really need 30-40+ separate organizations at various geographic levels? Or could many of these regional, state and local organizations be committees, sub-committees, chapters, etc. so we could act in coordination more often?