Hemp Not on USDA’s Stimulus Eligibility List…Yet

In late May, we shared with you the disappointing news that the USDA was not including hemp as an eligible crop under the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). This meant that hemp farmers would not be able to access the billions of funds earmarked to assist growers impaired by the COVID-19 pandemic. With your input, and some compelling pricing data, we petitioned the USDA to add hemp to their eligibility list.

Today, USDA announced more commodities that are eligible for CFAP funding. Unfortunately, hemp is still not on that list.

Fortunately, however, the battle is not over. The USDA reported today that it “expects additional eligible commodities to be announced in the coming weeks.” We still have hope that hemp will be included.

But we are not resting on our hope. We have been meeting with our friends on Capitol Hill who are aggressively urging USDA to add hemp to their funding lists. In conjunction with our partners at the U.S. Hemp Growers Association, we also continuing to hold meetings with key USDA officials to help further provide information to assist with their eligibility determinations.

We can use your help.

Please click the button below to share with us any pertinent information you can provide, especially any data that demonstrates that hemp has suffered a more than 5% price loss between January and April 2020 and faces additional marketing costs due to COVID-19. Thanks in advance for your help!