USDA to conduct hemp acreage and production survey

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service is conducting its first hemp acreage and production survey.

The survey, sent to those identified as hemp producers, will collect information on the total planted and harvested area, yield, production and value of hemp in the United States. Survey data will aid the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service in administering and monitoring states and Indian tribes permitted to grow domestic hemp.

In order to produce the crop, state and tribal hemp production plans must be approved by the USDA. Pilot programs for industrial hemp cultivation were first included in the 2014 Farm Bill. However, the cultivation of hemp under certain conditions was allowed after the Domestic Hemp Production Program was established in the 2018 Farm Bill.

By April 2020, at least 47 states enacted legislation to establish hemp production programs or to allow for hemp cultivation research, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Included in that is Pennsylvania, which, following the 2014 Farm Bill passed House Bill 967 in 2016 that permitted industrial hemp research.

By 2019, Pennsylvania issued 324 permits related to hemp. That number grew as the state issued permits to more than 500 growers and 60 processors in 2020. However, this year, the number of permits dropped. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, 426 hemp growing permits and 64 hemp processing permits were issued in 2021.

Given the decrease in the number of permits issued, last February the USDA released a report stating the future of hemp is uncertain. Still, hemp will likely remain a speciality crop, dominated by a few states rather than a profitable option for every farmer.

According to the USDA, the hemp acreage and production survey will help provide data about the growing hemp industry — including hemp grown in the open and under protection — to assist producers, regulatory agencies, state governments, processors and other industry entities with program support responsibilities.

The survey will be sent via mail beginning in October. Those who receive the survey can fill out the form and mail it back, or take an online survey, which opens Oct. 18.