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USDA Announces Hemp Crop Insurance For 2020, Noem Still Opposes Legalization

Lee Strubinger
/
SDPB

The US Department of Agriculture is announcing hemp crop insurance coverage for the year 2020.

The chair of a legislative summer study looking into an industrial hemp program says that’s a big deal for South Dakota farmers who want to raise hemp.

However, the announcement doesn’t change Governor Kristi Noem’s opposition to industrial hemp legalization.

Governor Noem says her position on hemp is a principled policy stand. She says legalizing industrial hemp weakens drug laws in South Dakota. She says it would legalize marijuana—hemp’s cousin in the cannabis family—because law enforcement officials are unable to distinguish between the two.

Noem says ultimately, industrial hemp would strain local prosecutors financially to the point of no longer prosecuting marijuana cases and threaten  the health and safety of the next generation.

Republican Representative Lee Qualm is chair of the Industrial Hemp legislative study. He says he’s excited the USDA has come up with a coverage plan. He says that will give farmers a feeling there’s safety net they can work with.

“There’s always that concern,” Qualm says. “Are farmers going to have to stand the risk all by themselves? It’s a brand new crop. The markets are just getting going. The CBD oil, that’s going pretty good. As far as the fiber and the seed, we got to get some markets going for that. This helps us feel a little more comfortable.”

Legislators are anxiously awaiting federal guidelines for industrial hemp cultivation as well. Qualm says he expects USDA rules around industrial hemp to arrive around the end of September or the first part of October. He says those will help the committee.

“Then we’ve got some parameters to make it easier to establish our rules,” Qualm says.

The next Industrial Hemp Study meeting is October 7th.