USDA approves Indiana’s plan for commercial hemp growing

FILE - In this April 23, 2018, file photo, Trevor Eubanks, plant manager for Big Top Farms, shovels dried hemp as branches hang drying in barn rafters overhead at their production facility near Sisters, Ore. Draft rules released by the United States Department of Agriculture for a new and booming agricultural hemp industry have alarmed farmers, processors and retailers across the country, who say the provisions will be crippling if they are not significantly overhauled before they become final. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved Indiana’s plan to allow farmers to commercially grow and process hemp.

The plan will take the Office of the Indiana State Chemist’s pilot hemp program and transition it to one allowing for commercial hemp production. Previously, hemp growers needed a research proposal and to be associated with a university to apply for a hemp-growing license. Under the newly approved plan, however, farmers can become independently licensed.

Applications will open online in November for the 2021 growing season. Indiana is now one of 29 states with approved hemp plans.