JEFFERSON CITY — Support seems to be growing to lift the restrictions on industrial hemp in Missouri, legalized last year for a limited pilot program.

During a hearing Wednesday, members of the House Agricultural Policy Committee expressed frustration that the Department of Agriculture isn't ready to accept applications for the program authorizing plots of up to 40 acres and 2,000 total acres of industrial hemp. The comment period on rules closed Feb. 1 and the rules will take effect June 30, said Emily LeRoy, the department's legislative liaison. The department hopes to approve applications for industrial hemp growers in October, which allow planting in 2020, LeRoy told the committee.

The problem, she said, is that lawmakers approved the bill authorizing the pilot program but didn't include money to pay for implementation in this year's budget.

“We understand there is a lot of excitement about this industry,” LeRoy told the committee. “But our role is regulatory in nature and to carry out the law and there are procedures in place such as regulations and spending authority that slow things down.”

Committee Chairman Don Rone, R-Portageville, said it is unacceptable for the department to be unprepared to handle the pilot program given the enormous economic stakes of growing industrial hemp. The department should be ready to issue permits by July, Rone said, and it should ask for the money to do so if it can't find a way to finance it.

“It’s unacceptable,” Rone told LeRoy. “We cannot stand in the way of doing this because of regulations.”

The hearing Wednesday was on a bill filed by state Rep. Rick Francis, R-Perryville, that would eliminate the limits put in place last year.

Over a dozen proponents spoke for the measure and just one person spoke against it.

Hemp products can be used in car doors, animal bedding, construction and other uses. James Forbes, co-founder of St. Louis-based Tiger Fiber, told the committee hemp fibers can used to create a product as hard as concrete.

Last year the federal farm bill legalized industrial hemp nationwide. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is drafting national rules governing industrial hemp. On Feb. 27 the USDA said it would delay the implementation of those rules until the fall of 2019 to accommodate the 2020 growing season.

Under last year’s law, dry industrial hemp grown in the state may have no more than 0.3 percent THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana. All hemp grown in the state will be subject to testing by independent laboratories, according to the proposed rules. Hemp with THC above the 0.3 percent THC threshold must be destroyed.

A 2018 report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found U.S. retail sales of industrial hemp totaled almost $700 million in 2016.

Proponents from across the legal cannabis spectrum spoke at the hearing. A handful own stores that sell CBD oil derived from hemp plants under a 2015 law that allows the non-psychoactive ingredient in cannabis to be sold to epilepsy patients. Others came from businesses that grow seeds or hemp in states like Tennessee, Kentucky and Colorado.

The Congressional Research Service noted in its report that because of the federal prohibition on industrial hemp dating back to the 1950s, the supply chains for industrial hemp growers will need to be re-established.

“While expanded market opportunities might exist in some states or localities if current restrictions on production are lifted, it is not possible to predict the potential for future retail sales or employment gains in the United States,” the report said.

Proponents acknowledged there will be hurdles to overcome.

Mitch Meyers owns the BeLeaf Company in Earth City, which grows hemp used to make CBD oil under the 2015 law in a 5,000-square-foot facility. She told the committee the hemp she grows to make CBD oil is far different from hemp grown for its fiber.

Thousands of hemp strains exist, Meyers told the committee. Farmers need to be allowed to plant in 2019 to begin experimenting with hemp seeds, Meyers said.

“One of the things we want to learn is which strains grow best in Missouri,” Meyers said. “We have five different soil types, temperatures, humidities. All of those things are going to go differently around the state.”

Others said that because of the long prohibition on growing hemp, legitimate seeds will be hard to find.

Levi Swanson serves as a commercial account manager for Advanced Nutrients, a Denver-based company which sells fertilizers for cannabis plants. Swanson also works for another company which breeds hemp seed.

Missouri is a natural home for growing hemp and the plant thrives in the state, Swanson said. Still, it takes about three years to find a seed with the proper genetics for growing good plants, Swanson said.

“If we’re not able to produce seed in Missouri this year it’s going to devastating,” Swanson said.

A handful of committee members including Rone and state Rep. Barry Hovis, R-Cape Girardeau, indicated their support for Francis’ bill during the hearing. Others clearly expressed skepticism, but none expressed outright opposition.

“There was a lot of anticipation this will be good for rural communities that are on the margin,” Francis said in an interview. “Moving forward, hopefully we’ll see farmers being given another opportunity to produce hemp.”

A vote by the committee on the bill could happen as early as next week. State Sen. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, has filed similar legislation in the Senate. Francis said he expects the bill to pass the House, but its fate in the Senate is uncertain

“In the Senate (industrial hemp) has in the past met some concerns,” Francis said. “We certainly are hopeful it will pass the Senate and get the governor’s signature on it.”

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