The process of getting a final rule for a domestic hemp production program is closer as USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has forwarded its revised final rule to the Office of Management and Budget for review.
The current target for a final rule is listed as October 2021.
USDA reopened its comment period on the interim final rule through October 8, 2020, and the stop-gap funding plan that keeps the government operating through December 11 included a provision to extend the hemp pilot program through September 2021.
Meanwhile, USDA's Risk Management Agency (RMA) also expanded the pilot multi-peril crop insurance plan for hemp to include Arizona, Arkansas, Nevada and Texas, and added 13 counties in states where the coverage was already available. RMA also made other adjustments to the pilot effort.