Morning Ag Clips logo
  • Subscribe ❯
  • PORTAL ❯
  • LOGIN ❯
  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe to our
    daily email
    ❯
  • Portal Registration❯
  • Login❯
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming

Morning Ag Clips

  • By Keyword
  • By topic
  • By state
  • policy
  • tractors & machinery
  • education
  • conservation
  • webinars
  • business
  • dairy
  • cattle
  • poultry
  • swine
  • corn
  • soybeans
  • organic
  • specialty crops
  • Home
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Store
  • Advertise
Home » New testing resources for Pa. hemp growers
new testing ... Comments

New testing resources for Pa. hemp growers

Pa. has 510 farms growing approximately 3,000 acres of hemp

PUBLISHED ON September 3, 2020

The Departments of Agriculture and Health announced today a new partnership to make Pennsylvania’s six medical marijuana testing laboratories available to the agriculture industry for testing hemp crops for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels. (File photo by Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture)

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Departments of Agriculture and Health announced today a new partnership to make Pennsylvania’s six medical marijuana testing laboratories available to the agriculture industry for testing hemp crops for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels.

“Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine has been a great friend to Pennsylvania agriculture, as we’ve worked to keep the industry healthy and moving and comply with federal law throughout 2020,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “This partnership is just one more example, and we’re grateful to the Department of Health for helping to make these labs available to Pennsylvania’s new and growing hemp industry as they work to meet testing requirements during a very tight, critical harvest window.”

For the 2020 growing season, Pennsylvania has 510 farms growing approximately 3,000 acres of hemp across the commonwealth. Every hemp lot in Pennsylvania is required to be sampled and tested to show a THC level at or below 0.3 percent. Anything above that level is considered marijuana. Prior to the availability of medical marijuana laboratories for hemp growers, 13 in-state and out-of-state labs were available to hemp growers for required potency testing. As growers are nearing harvest season, the Department of Health’s medical marijuana laboratories add capacity during a critical, short window of time.

“The Department of Health is pleased to collaborate with the Department of Agriculture as part of their hemp program,” Dr. Levine said. “We are committed to ensuring that Pennsylvanians have access to medicine that is regulated and approved. The laboratories that are part of the medical marijuana program have been key partners in our program, and we believe they will play a key role in assisting the Department of Agriculture as well.”

In 2017 and 2018, the Department of Agriculture administered the Industrial Hemp Pilot Research Program, legitimized by the 2014 federal Farm Bill and authorized in Pennsylvania statute by the Industrial Hemp Research Act. As of 2019, the research program’s 100-acre cap was lifted for the inaugural year of the commercial program which was made possible through the 2018 Farm Bill. The 2019 program permitted 324 growers who grew just over 4,000 acres of hemp in 55 Pennsylvania counties.

Under the historic 2019 Pennsylvania Farm Bill, the state made funding available to hemp farmers through the creation of a state Specialty Crop Block grant. The Department of Agriculture also encouraged the USDA to make federal specialty crop funds available to hemp farmers.

Hemp was grown in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States until after World War II but became regulated along with marijuana and its cultivation was prohibited by federal law. Hemp and marijuana are different varieties of the same plant species. Unlike marijuana, hemp is also grown for fiber and seed, in addition to floral extracts, and must maintain a much lower concentration of the psychoactive chemical THC below the 0.3 percent legal threshold.

For more about Pennsylvania’s Hemp Program visit agriculture.pa.gov.

–Shannon Powers, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Click Here to find out more about your favorite topics

policy

Spread the word

Browse More Clips

2020 late blight warning

Penn State Extension teaching biosecurity best practices to young producers

Primary Sidebar

MORE

PENNSYLVANIA CLIPS

PSU Extension downspout planters help reduce stormwater runoff
July 5, 2022
Save the date for Animal Ag Industry Breakfast, August 10
July 5, 2022
Mineral supplementation to improve repro performance
July 5, 2022
AgChoice Farm Credit & MidAtlantic Farm Credit merge
July 4, 2022
Learn about managing weeds in upcoming Penn State Extension workshop
July 4, 2022
  • Trending
  • Latest

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...

NOFA-NY joins farmers, food co-ops, advocates to urge action on organic priorities
July 5, 2022
National Association of Wheat Growers’ 2023 Farm Bill priorities
July 5, 2022
Ukraine: FAO scales up efforts to save upcoming harvest
July 5, 2022
Missouri's agricultural organizations joint statement on call for special session
July 4, 2022
Missouri Department of Agriculture statement on Governor Parson's call for a special session
July 4, 2022

Footer

MORNING AG CLIPS

  • Sponsors
  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Customer & Technical Support

CONNECT WITH US

  • Like Us on Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

TRACK YOUR TRADE

  • Markets & Economy
  • Cattle Updates
  • Dairy News
  • Policy & Politics
  • Corn Alerts

QUICK LINKS

  • Account
  • Portal Membership
  • Invite Your Friends
  • Subscribe to RSS
  • WeatherTrends
  • Just Me, Kate

© 2022 Morning Ag Clips, LLC. All Rights Reserved.