Hemp and Farm Programs

Hemp offers new economic opportunities for America’s farmers. The 2018 Farm Bill reclassified hemp, and it is now legal to grow industrial hemp. USDA agencies that administer farm programs — including the Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Risk Management Agency — benefit hemp producers through crop insurance as well as farm loan, conservation, and safety net programs.

On This Page

• View Hemp Programs FAQs
• Download the Hemp and Farm Bill Programs Fact Sheet (PDF)

Options for Hemp Growers

Crop Insurance and Risk Management

A pilot hemp insurance program available in select counties through Multi-Peril Crop Insurance provides coverage against loss of yield because of insurable causes of loss for hemp grown for fiber, grain, or cannabidiol (CBD) oil.

The hemp crop insurance policy is available in certain counties within 27 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Revenue protection for hemp is offered nationwide under the Whole-Farm Revenue Protection plan of insurance. Also, hemp is insurable under the Nursery crop insurance program and the Nursery Value Select pilot crop insurance program, if grown in containers and in accordance with federal regulations, any applicable state or tribal laws, and terms of the crop insurance policy.

To learn about crop insurance options, use RMA’s Agent Locator to find an agent near you.

Additionally, the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program coverage, offered through the Farm Service Agency, protects against losses associated with lower yields, destroyed crops or prevented planting where no permanent federal crop insurance program is available.

Farm Loans

Hemp producers may be eligible for Farm Service Agency (FSA) farm loans, such as operating, ownership, beginning farmer, and farm storage facility loans.

Reporting Hemp Acres

Licensed hemp producers are required to report planted acreage along with their license number to their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. Producers may also be eligible for FSA programs; additional requirements may be required.

To file an acreage report for hemp:

• Obtain a hemp production license or authorization number issued by USDA, state, or tribe.
• File an acreage report with the FSA, including the license or authorization number and identifying each field or subfield where hemp is planted. These fields could be referred to as a “lot” and includes greenhouses.
• Identify the intended use of the reported hemp acreage:
  • Fiber – used for cloth, pressed plastics, ropes, animal bedding, paper, biofuel, packaging, concrete additives, spill cleanup.
  • Cannabidiol (CBD) – grown for extraction of plant resin, which includes CBD and other phytocannabinoids to be extracted from the flower. Subject to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, resin may be used in oils, lotions, cleansers, bath or other pharmaceutical or topical products.
  • Grain – used for hemp hearts, crushed seed oil (not CBD), protein supplements (human or animal consumption)
  • Seed – used for propagation stock, hybrids (non-human consumption)

  Conservation

  Eligible hemp producers are eligible for multiple USDA conservation programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Stewardship Program, Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, and Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

  Hemp Pilot Farms

  Before passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, producers could only grow hemp if they met the university research pilot requirements of Section 7606 of the 2014 Farm Bill. Now, producers can grow hemp if they meet those requirements or if they are growing in accordance with an approved State or Tribal hemp production plan.