Hemp Today
Half a million dollars. That’s the scale of ambition left for hemp in Washington today. Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar is touting $500,000 set aside in an appropriations bill for hemp research in her state – Minnesota, if it survives the House and presidential signature.
Paywall
Policy Decoded comments
| Trump’s Environmental Purge Leaves Hemp Industry With Table Scraps |
| The Trump administration froze reimbursements across the $3.1 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program, effectively killing $35 million in hemp-specific research projects that were testing carbon sequestration, climate-resilient crop rotations, and sustainable supply chains. Five multi-year consortia pairing universities, farmer cooperatives, and startups now face uncertainty as funds get relabeled under tightened conditions that disqualify many original partnerships, while broader cuts include EPA canceling nearly $20 billion in clean-energy grants and USDA halting hundreds of conservation projects. Meanwhile, Senator Amy Klobuchar’s $500,000 hemp research allocation for Minnesota highlights how the industry has been reduced to hoping for modest appropriations after losing its best chance in decades to build credible sustainability credentials. The systematic dismantling of climate-smart agriculture research signals active hostility toward any effort linking farming with environmental accountability, setting hemp back a decade in its quest for footing in carbon markets. For an industry that positioned itself as the poster child for climate-positive agriculture, the loss of federal research infrastructure means hemp companies will struggle to substantiate sustainability claims without government-backed data and standards. (Hemp Today) |
