1. Idaho hemp program detail

USDA has approved Idaho’s hemp plan.

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture plans to start licensing producers and handlers Nov. 8, when its online system goes live. Applications can be completed and fees paid entirely online.

“Throughout the year, we have had producers and handlers call with questions about when licensing will be open,” State Department of Agriculture Deputy Director Chanel Tewalt said. Licenses are valid from Jan. 1, or the issue date, through Dec. 31.

The 2021 Legislature passed House Bill 126, the Industrial Hemp Research and Development Act. The law directed the department to develop a state hemp plan consistent with the 2018 Farm Bill. Hemp-authorizing legislation failed in Idaho in 2019 and 2020.

HB126 allows production and transport of hemp containing tetrahydrocannabinol up to the Farm Bill’s limit of 0.3% but does not allow in-state possession or sale of THC-containing products. The state’s first hemp crop is expected next year.

The plan contains Idaho Code references including HB126, the administrative rule — with fee table — and protocols for sampling, disposal and testing. The 2022 Legislature will consider the rule.

Regulations and fees in the Idaho plan, submitted to USDA Aug. 31, comply with the 2018 Farm Bill standard, Tewalt said.

Fees are $100 for an annual application, $500 for a grower’s annual license and $1,000 for a handler’s license, $250 per lot for a grower’s pre-harvest inspection, and $500 for an annual site inspection and other inspections for handlers.

The department’s online Hemp Program License Timeline says prospective licensees must get an Idaho State Police or FBI background check no more than 60 days before applying. They must identify and provide background-check detail for key participants, and map lots or facilities.

The department will submit samples it requests of producers to a lab the producer selects. It encourages producers to identify the lab in the license application, though this is not required.

The timeline says the department will conduct an inspection and collect samples of each lot no more than 30 days before harvest, which can start only after the official sample is collected. After sampling, the hemp must be harvested within 30 days or re-sampled.

With handler licensees, the department will schedule an annual inspection during which it may take a sample.

Producers and handlers can request a re-test of original samples retained by the lab. The department must notify licensees their samples meet THC limits before hemp goes into the commerce stream.

“I’m very proud of the entire ISDA team for working so quickly to implement the new law, and I know we could not have gotten here alone,” Director Celia Gould said in a release. There was “excellent collaboration and assistance” from USDA, Gov. Brad Little’s office, industry stakeholders, and Idaho State Police and the state’s law enforcement community.