Farmers Re-Added to Proposed Hemp Advisory Council in Indiana

Indiana lawmakers have re-added farmers to the membership of a proposed hemp advisory committee if the crop is legalized in the state, according to an Indiana Public Media report. Senators had removed farmers from the committee, but they are included in the House version.

In addition to farmers, the committee would include an elected sheriff, a member of the Midwest Hemp Council, the directors of the agriculture, health, and financial institutions departments, the superintendent of the state police, the chairman of the alcohol and tobacco commission, Indiana Farm Bureau, Indiana Crop Improvement Association and Agribusiness Council of Indiana appointees with hemp experience, and the state seed commissioner who would serve as a nonvoting chair. All state officials could also appoint a designee.

Republican state Rep. Christy Stutzman told IPM that some farmers in her constituency have already planned “several hundred acres” of hemp crops.

Justin Swanson, a hemp lobbyist, said hemp flower products are “the easiest way for Hoosier farmers to enter this really emerging hemp market with the least amount of overhead.”

Indiana is following the lead of several other states who are seeking to formally legalize hemp in their state following federal rule changes last year legalizing industrial hemp production.