USDA Hemp Program Issues New Guidance on Licensing, Crop Reporting, and the 2026 Growing Season USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has released updated guidance for licensed hemp producers and state hemp programs covering the 2026 growing season. The guidance addresses several areas where the transition to the November 12 compliance framework...

EU Hemp Framework Shifts Create New Sourcing Options for US B2B Buyers While the US hemp industry has been focused on the November 12 federal compliance deadline, significant regulatory changes in the European Union have been reshaping the international hemp ingredient market. For US B2B buyers, the EU framework shifts...

Griffith Hemp Regulation Alternative Draws Opposition From Both Sides as Farm Bill Debate Continues Another Legislative Proposal, Another Industry Divide Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) has put forward a hemp regulation alternative that takes a distinct approach from both the 2024 Farm Bill's enforcement framework and the competing proposals circulating in...

White House Drug Control Strategy Puts Intoxicating Hemp in the Crosshairs — What B2B Brands Must Know The Trump administration released its 2026 National Drug Control Strategy on May 4, 2026 — and for the hemp industry, the document contains a clear and deliberate signal. The White House Office of...

Paul, Klobuchar, Ernst Introduce Hemp Safety Enforcement Act: The State Opt-Out Bill Explained On April 16, 2026, Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act — a bipartisan Senate bill that would create a state opt-out mechanism from the federal hemp...

Trump Administration Claims New Legal Authority to Act Against Intoxicating Hemp — What It Changes For most of the past six months, the working assumption in the hemp industry has been clear: the November 12, 2026 date is the compliance cliff — the date after which products that don’t meet...

USDA Delays DEA-Registered Lab Requirement to December 31, 2026 — What It Means for Hemp Testing Amid the noise surrounding the November 12, 2026 hemp compliance deadline, a separate and easily overlooked regulatory development has significant implications for hemp testing: the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service has announced it will delay...

US Hemp Roundtable’s 365-Day Mission: A Regulatory Framework Instead of a Total Ban When the Agricultural Appropriations Act passed in November 2025 with its hemp redefinition and November 12, 2026 compliance deadline embedded in it, the US Hemp Roundtable — the industry’s primary trade and advocacy organization — responded with...

Colorado’s Illegal Hemp Bombshell: Regulators Privately Admit the Problem Is “Larger Than We Can Quantify” A ProPublica investigation published this week has exposed one of the most significant supply chain integrity stories in the hemp industry’s recent history — and its implications extend far beyond Colorado. In a private virtual...

Texas Hemp Smoke Shops Face Continuing Uncertainty After May 1 Injunction — What the Ongoing Lawsuit Means Texas hemp businesses have been living on borrowed time since March 31, 2026, when the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) adopted sweeping new hemp regulations that effectively banned the retail sale...

The Regulatory Fork in the Road While the 2024 Farm Bill's November 12 compliance deadline dominates hemp industry headlines, a quieter legislative battle is unfolding in Congress that could reshape the long-term regulatory framework for hemp products. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) has introduced the Lawful Hemp Protection Act, a bill...

Ohio's Hemp Crackdown Hits a Legal Wall Ohio's legislative effort to restrict hemp-derived products is facing mounting legal resistance, with courts issuing temporary restraining orders (TROs) blocking enforcement of the state's hemp ban provisions and at least one ruling characterizing the legislation as "discriminatory" in how it treats hemp relative...

Another Legislative Proposal, Another Industry Divide Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) has put forward a hemp regulation alternative that takes a distinct approach from both the 2024 Farm Bill's enforcement framework and the competing proposals circulating in Congress — including the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act's state opt-out model and Rep. Barr's...

Introduction The Texas Supreme Court handed the state’s hemp industry a significant blow on May 1, 2026, ruling that the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) has the authority to classify delta-8 THC as a Schedule I controlled substance — and lifting the temporary injunction that had shielded hemp retailers...

Introduction On April 30, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 224-200 to pass the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 — the 2026 Farm Bill. The margin was narrow. The impact on the hemp industry was decisive: the bill passed without any language delaying or modifying the...

Introduction As the House passed its Farm Bill without hemp delay provisions on April 30, attention in the hemp industry has shifted entirely to the Senate — and to a small cluster of legislative vehicles that could, if advanced, push the November 12 compliance deadline further into the future. One...

Introduction New Jersey is not waiting for November 12 to begin tightening hemp THC standards. The state is implementing a two-stage compliance framework: an interim standard that takes effect May 31, 2026, followed by a full prohibition on intoxicating hemp beverage sales through general retail channels on November 13, 2026....

Introduction California has taken one of the most consequential state-level actions on hemp THC of any jurisdiction in the country: emergency regulations that effectively prohibit hemp-derived THC products from being sold through general retail and require them to enter the state’s established licensed cannabis regulatory system. For the hemp industry,...