By KATIE LINDSEY, APFarmers have been growing industrial hemp in Washington, Colorado and Colorado, California and California, Utah and Oregon.
In a new report from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the institute’s research team found that three major hemp producers in the U.S. — CropLife, a Florida-based company that produces industrial hemp and Hemp Industries of America, and Dow AgroSciences, an Ohio-based agribusiness company — collectively produce more than half the world’s hemp.
Hemp is the second-most widely cultivated crop after corn and is one of the most important crops for biodiesel and food production.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said it is the world ‘s third-largest crop with the potential to generate billions of dollars in new agricultural products.
The report comes as federal lawmakers continue to consider legislation that would prohibit the U,S.
from selling hemp products to states that don’t recognize its right to industrial hemp.
The bill, H.R. 1364, has been stalled in the House of Representatives for nearly a year.
