HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – The 2018 Federal Farm Bill legalized industrial hemp production and Montana lawmakers are considering the best ways to integrate it into the state’s agriculture economy.
As Shaylee Ragar with the UM Legislative News Service reports, Senator Tom Jacobson, a Democrat from Great Falls, is sponsoring two hemp-related bills. One would allow the Montana Department of Agriculture to create a hemp certification program plan and the other would eliminate the criminal background check requirement to grow hemp. The Montana Senate passed both bills this week and they now head to the House of Representatives.
Jacobson said the more opportunities and diversification farmers have, the better.
“When our ag producers are successful, then our small, rural communities are successful.”
Jacobson introduced a third bill that would exempt hemp processing facilities from property taxes, but the bill was tabled in committee. He said the sustainability of the crop is appealing, and that one acre of hemp can produce three times the amount of paper as an acre of trees.
“It’s a very exciting time for our ag community. I think we are on the front edge of some big things.”
The Montana Farmers Union says the next step is to develop processing facilities in the state. Two are in the works in Cascade and Pondera Counties.
