US Farmers Earned 27.4 Billion Rubles from Industrial Hemp
According to a report from the US Department of Agriculture, in 2023 American farmers earned $291 million (27.4 billion rubles) from cultivating industrial hemp.
Hemp Acreage Is Growing Again
In 2018, the US government federally legalized industrial hemp varieties containing up to 0.3% THC. This led to a rapid expansion of the hemp industry, and by 2019, the area planted with industrial hemp reached a record 206,973 hectares. However, due to a severe hemp overproduction crisis, the industry declined sharply by 2022. The area of hemp farmland shrank 28 times to just 7,386 hectares, and the value of the hemp harvest dropped nearly fourfold compared to 2021, down to $246.2 million (23.2 billion rubles).
Hemp Plantings in the US
Last year, however, the hemp industry began to recover. The area harvested for hemp increased by 15% to 8,530 hectares, and farmers’ income rose by 18%. Farmers earned:
- $258 million (24.3 billion rubles) from selling hemp flowers,
- $2.3 million (216.5 million rubles) from selling hemp grain,
- $11.6 million (1 billion rubles) from selling hemp fiber,
- $2.9 million (273 million rubles) from selling certified hemp seeds.
The USDA collected this data through a survey of hemp growers in January 2024. As a result, the reported figures may differ from the actual numbers.
Recreational Cannabis Growers Face License Revocation
Last year, the USDA warned that farmers growing both industrial and recreational cannabis risk losing their licenses. One grower contacted by officials was Sam Bellavance from Vermont. He was informed that the law prohibits a farmer licensed to cultivate industrial hemp from also producing marijuana.
USDA representatives explained their actions by pointing to the conflict between federal and state laws regulating cannabis. Recreational cannabis is legal in 24 states, but at the national level, only industrial hemp is federally permitted. Therefore, farmers found growing hemp varieties with high THC content risk losing their licenses to cultivate industrial hemp.