Colorado livestock could be eating hemp as early as next year, thanks to a bill directing the Colorado Department of Agriculture to study the use of industrial hemp in animal feed.

Mike Sullivan, the owner of Johnstown-based Hemp Farm Colorado, said the inclusion of hemp in animal feed could solve one of the biggest problems hemp farmers face. “One of the real big problems with the hemp industry is there’s hardly any processors out there that are buying materials straight from the farmer. This would be a great leap forward,” he said.

The use of hemp in animal feed is forbidden because the Food and Drug Administration considers hemp an adulterating substance. State Sen. Kerry Donovan wrote and sponsored the bill, which passed the Legislature unanimously and awaits the governor’s signature. The study would be headed by the commissioner of agriculture and would result in a recommendation by the end of the year. The bill initially intended to allow hemp in livestock feed without a study, but Donovan said a study could help avoid further complications with the FDA.

The federal government started allowing farmers to grow hemp under limited circumstances in 2014. Hemp is classified as the Cannabis sativa plant with a concentration of no more than 0.3 percent THC, the intoxicating substance found in marijuana.

Duane Sinning, the Department of Agriculture’s assistant director of plant industries, said the Congressional Research Service identified 25,000 uses for industrial hemp in a report released this year. He said when any of those uses become well-known, it helps legitimize and fuel the industry.

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