The Wyoming Legislature House Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee met on Thursday, January 24th.

One of the bills being discussed was the Hemp and Cannabidiol Regulation Bill (HB 0171). After a bill regarding hemp extracts failed to make it back to the House for further discussion, there were many interested parties speaking up in support of HB0171 at the committee meeting earlier today.

The bill passed today after several testimonies from farmers, the Department of Agriculture and the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police. The bill made it through the committee with nine votes in favor of passing the bill.

One Sponsor, Rep. Bunky Loucks (HD59, Natrona County) said, “What an opportunity this is for farmers of Wyoming to grow a crop that they can make a profit on that can have value add to it. It’s amazing.”

Justin Loeffler is interested in growing hemp here in Wyoming. He said, “We have a really unique opportunity to get on the ground floor of this and build an Ag economy or add to our ag economy that can help farmers in our state.”

The bill lays out a plan for licensing, producing, and processing hemp that falls in line with the recently passed Farm Bill that classifies hemp as an agricultural crop. For more information, go to wyoleg.gov.